


A Family of their own

by Lakritzwolf



Series: Accidental Dads [2]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Challenges of parenthood, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Drama, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Gen, M/M, Mind Manipulation, Other, Warlock Children - Freeform, demonic mind magic, kidnapping with happy ending, lots of random headcanon about warlock child magic and alchemy, parents aren't perfect
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-25
Updated: 2019-12-01
Packaged: 2020-10-28 08:42:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 43,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20775731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lakritzwolf/pseuds/Lakritzwolf
Summary: Family lives has ups and downs, but overall, Andrew, Lorenzo, and Annie are a happy family. Until the day Magnus discovers a frightening secret about Annie, her birth and conception. Lorenzo knows of course that he doesn’t stand a chance against a greater demon on his own, but then he discovers that the family he had hoped he’d be lucky enough to find one day, was right here all along. And now they have to fight for the life and the soul of their little angel princess.You know, I never had a family. Never thought it was even possible. But the way your loved ones rallied for you, for each other, showed me a family doesn’t need to be something that you’re born into. Families can be made. One day, I hope to be as lucky as you in finding one of my own.-Lorenzo Rey, S3, Ep 22, All good things must come to an end





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LaMalefix](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaMalefix/gifts).

> This is a sequel to [Sometimes there is no choice ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19150846), and you should read that first or some things might not make any sense.
> 
> Artwork by the amazing [shinigami714](https://shinigami714.tumblr.com)

Entering the house whistling under his breath, Andrew immediately noticed how quiet it was. Too quiet for a late afternoon, which meant that Lorenzo and Annie were out somewhere. Not that he minded, but today had been one hell of a day, and he was starving, apart from being absolutely knackered. He had even taken a shower at the Institute; he still had a room there, but moved into one of the smaller ones, just big enough for a bed and a chest of drawers doubling as a nightstand. He kept some toiletries and spare clothes there, for days like today, because he hated coming home covered in blood, sweat, and ichor.

He headed into the kitchen in search of a pre-dinner snack, humming that horribly annoying tune that had gotten stuck in his head earlier today when patrolling a mall. He opened the fridge, found nothing inspiring, and grabbed a banana instead. Andrew wolfed that down in three bites – Lorenzo hated when he did that but Lorenzo wasn’t here, was he? – and after disposing of the peel, headed for the stairs. 

Still humming he bounced up the stairs taking two steps in one stride, but having reached the landing he stopped dead in his tracks when he suddenly heard the sound he hated most of all in this world. 

Annie was in her room, the door closed, and she was crying. 

Taking a few deep breaths Andrew rolled his shoulders, and carefully approached the door. He knocked softly, and leaned his face against the wood.

“Annie? Sweetie, what’s wrong?”

No answer, only the crying seemed even more muffled than before, as if she had now also hidden under the blanket. Andrew looked left and right, but he couldn’t hear anything, and all the other doors apart from their bedroom door were closed. 

“Annie, can I come in?”

Still no answer, but she was still crying, so Andrew carefully and slowly opened the door. 

Annie was an indistinguishable lump under her blanket, and she was sobbing so hard it broke Andrew’s heart. 

“Hey,” he said softly and sat down on the bed next to her. “Pumpkin, what happened?”

She curled up even tighter, and between the wrecking, heartbreaking sobs the only word Andrew could make out was Papá. He sucked at his upper lip for a second.

“What about Papá?”

Annie took a deep breath and stopped sobbing, just long enough to say, “He hates me!” And then she was crying even harder than before.

Andrew could not possibly think of a world were Lorenzo would be able to even think about hating his daughter, but for a moment he had no idea what to say. Clearly, something terrible had happened, but what Lorenzo could possibly have done or said that would make his six year old daughter think he hated her was absolutely beyond him. 

So he rested a hand on her upper back, and spoke as gently as he could. “Look, whatever happened, Papá does not hate you. He could never hate you. Be angry, yes, but hate you? Never.”

“But he does!” Annie curled up even more. “I broke his bottle and I got burned and he healed me but he yelled at me so hard and he didn’t fix my hair so he wants me to be ugly because he hates me!”

Andrew was a little breathless just from listening to that one sentence that Annie had pressed out without taking a single breath. 

“You broke a bottle...?” And then it dawned on him. “You’ve been in his apothecary.”

Annie’s desperate sobbing was all the answer he needed. And suddenly he wasn’t quite so soft anymore, because she knew that the apothecary was absolutely off limits, for good reason. That was also the reason why it was normally locked unless Lorenzo was in there, so for whatever reason he had left it, he had meant to return immediately after. Maybe he just needed the bathroom, or a mocha that just wasn’t the same when conjured up, and Annie had snuck in and broken something.

Which explained why Lorenzo would be furious. And why he had raised his voice. Andrew had a hard time imagining Lorenzo actually yelling at her, but depending on what exactly it was Annie had broken, he might have. There were things in there that were dangerous, and probably incredibly valuable, if not irreplaceable.

But since Annie was perfectly clear on why she had fallen from grace there was no need to rub salt into the wound with an ‘I told you so’, so he just tried to think of something to say. And then his brain finally processed that long sentence, and Andrew inhaled sharply. “Did you just say you got burned?”

“Yes,” Annie muttered shakily. 

“But... Papá healed you, right?”

“Yes,” she said again. “But he didn’t fix my favourite shirt and my hair is ugly and he didn’t fix that because he hates me now.”

“Annie...” Andrew hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to say. “Papá does not hate you.”

After another moment’s hesitation he reached for the blanket, and tugged. Annie didn’t have a proper grip on it, curled up as she was, but she started sobbing again and tried to burrow herself into the mattress. 

“Oh sweetie,” Andrew breathed as he saw her. Her favourite shirt, the white one with the large winged heart on the front, was in tatters. But her hair... on one side of her head her beautiful golden curls were only half as long as before. 

For a moment Andrew couldn’t believe his eyes; yes, he, too, was angry at her for breaking one of the most important rules in the house, but this was too much. He took another deep breath and got up. 

“I’ll talk to him,” he said, but Annie didn’t react other than crying even louder. 

Taking another deep breath, Andrew left the room and headed for the apothecary. The door was closed, so he knocked. 

“It’s me,” he said. “Can I come in?”

The door opened, and Andrew cautiously peeked around the doorframe before he entered. Lorenzo was sitting slumped in his chair, and he looked like someone who had literally been tearing his hair out for god knows how long. 

“Look,” Andrew began after a moment. “Obviously I don’t know what exactly happened, and I know that I’m usually the soft one who can’t be mad at her, but believe me, I’m not here to ask forgiveness in her name.”

Lorenzo looked up at him out of burning eyes.

“It was clearly something important that she broke, and I... you likely have all reason to be mad at her. It’s just...” He groped for words. 

“Just?” Lorenzo asked, voice rough. “Am I being too harsh with grounding her?”

“No,” Andrew replied immediately. “But she’s devastated that you didn’t fix her hair, and now she thinks you hate her.”

“Fix her hair?” Lorenzo sat up straight. “Fix her hair?” he asked again, voice rising. “We are lucky I was right around the corner when it happened! Saffron jinn essence is extremely dangerous, so forgive me when I was focussed on healing her and making sure she didn’t lose her eyesight instead of taking care of her hair! And I told her not to touch the vial but she...” He broke off with a frustrated huff.

“Yeah, okay...” Andrew cleared his throat. “I don’t think she’s aware of how dangerous the whole situation was. And I’m not blaming you for not... I mean I’m not stupid; of course you’d make sure she’s okay, and you have every right to be angry. I just think that... that somehow, you should let her know that you’re angry at her, but don’t actually hate her.”

Lorenzo stared at him for a moment. “As if I could,” he said in a low voice.

“I know,” Andrew replied calmly and firmly. “But she thinks so, because she thinks part of her punishment is being ugly.”

“What on earth...” Lorenzo shook his head with a frown, lips parted. “Ugly?”

“You really didn’t see that, did you.” Andrew sighed. “Again, not blaming you if you were busy healing her. Just... would you do it? Fix her hair, I mean. Because you know we agreed on that whatever happens, a punishment should never be physical, and this is too close to that for me to be comfortab-”

“Is that really so important?” Lorenzo cut in. “I mean of course I will, I just don’t see why this is such a big deal?”

“Because you didn’t see it,” Andrew replied cautiously. “Can I take her to see you?”

Lorenzo breathed out a long, heavy sigh. “Of course.”

Andrew nodded and left to get Annie. Of course she was apprehensive, but what Andrew didn’t expect was her clinging to his trouser leg as if she was afraid of the ground under her opening up to swallow her after engulfing her in flames of wrath. 

“Lorenzo?” Andrew knocked softly against the doorframe. “There’s someone here who wants to say sorry.”

He had to push Annie over the threshold, and she was still clinging to his leg while looking up at Lorenzo with big, tear-filled and fearful eyes. 

“I’m sorry, Papá,” she whispered, a tear rolling down her cheek. “I’m sorry... can you please fix my hair? Please?”

Lorenzo stared at his daughter with his mouth hanging open before his breath escaped him in a long, hardly audible breath. He stepped closer, his lips pressed into a thin line as he noticed how she shrunk away from him as if she was suddenly hand-shy, and summoned his magic with a snap of his fingers that made her flinch. Then he lowered himself into a crouch so he wouldn’t tower over her anymore.

“I am not going to hurt you,” he said gently as he sent a few tendrils of magic over her head to undo the damage the volatile substance had done to her. “And I most certainly do not hate you. But... Andromeda, what you did was...” Lorenzo was clearly at a loss for words, and Andrew could see how he fought for composure. 

“I’m sorry,” Annie said in a suffocated, tiny whisper, more tears rolling down her cheeks. “I’m sorry, Papá.”

“I know,” Lorenzo replied in a heavy voice. “And I am glad I was here in time to heal you. And I apologize about the hair; I honestly didn’t see it while doing damage control. I would never punish you with being ugly.” Then he snapped his fingers, and the favourite shirt was looking like new again. “But you are still grounded. Off to your room.”

Her head hanging down Annie turned around and slunk out of the room, and very softly closed the door of her own room behind her.

“Am I being too harsh?” Lorenzo asked again after straightening up. 

“Maybe I’m just too soft,” Andrew replied with a shrug. “What was it that she broke anyway? I never heard of that stuff before.” Then he added with a small wry smile, “Not that that’s a surprise with me not being a warlock.”

Lorenzo took a deep breath and dragged both hands down his face. After a moment, he walked over to his table and looked at a small heap of glass shards on a sheet of paper. 

“Saffron jinn essence,” he said. “An extremely dangerous, but also for that very reason, extremely potent substance. The problem is that because of that, saffron djinns have been hunted to extinction centuries ago. Finding this substance nowadays is... near impossible.” He turned around to look at Andrew again. “It took me the better part of a century to find someone who was willing to part with even a little bit, and it cost me my whole estate in Darjeeling, plus a few very rare gems I was heartbroken to part with.”

“Oh,” was all Andrew managed to think of. 

“And now... after five decades of research...” Lorenzo shook his head, his voice breaking on the last words. “I was so close. So close. And now...” He closed his eyes. “Fifty years of research, and I was almost done, a potion that could restore a warlock’s magic in case of extreme emergency.” Opening his eyes again, Lorenzo swallowed hard. “You know I don’t like speaking of past lovers to you but...” He took a shaky breath. “If I had had such a potion, I wouldn’t have been forced to helplessly watch as the man I loved was killed before my very eyes, because I was completely drained of magic and unable to prevent it.”

“Oh Angel...” Andrew took a step closer. “Lorenzo, I had no idea...”

Lorenzo crossed his arms and stared out of the window. “It wasn’t Shadowhunters, in case you wonder.”

“I kind of did,” Andrew said softly. “But I don’t feel that’s important now.”

“Not to me,” Lorenzo whispered. “Not now. Not anymore. But I swore to myself I would never be in that situation again, and after... after what happened when I got Annie out of that manor in Russia... I needed... I just...”

“I get it,” Andrew said and closed his arms around Lorenzo’s shoulders.

“I don’t think you do,” Lorenzo muttered.

“No, I probably don’t,” Andrew replied. “Not completely, anyway. I just... I can see you’re hurt, and I want to help you, but I can’t just replace something like that.”

“No one can,” Lorenzo replied and shook his head. 

“I’m sorry,” Andrew said and, he didn’t only mean the loss of his ingredient and his research. Lorenzo seemed to sense this however, and he rested one of his hands atop Andrew’s hands, and leaned into the embrace. 

“Was I cruel to her?”

“I don’t think so,” Andrew replied. “You didn’t do it on purpose. Not fix her hair, I mean. You were preoccupied with taking care of her injuries.”

“And then I sent her away before I could say something I would regret.” Lorenzo heaved a heavy sigh. “I really should have better self-control than that.”

“Everyone can lose their shit sometimes. Everyone makes mistakes. Also parents. I think the more important part is how we move on from here. I mean you did fix the shirt, as an offering of peace, I guess.” Andrew moistened his lips with a flick of his tongue. “Can I do anything at all?”

“If you could manage dinner, I’d be very grateful,” Lorenzo said after a moment. “I need a moment.”

“Sure. We can just order. Something you fancy?”

“Get whatever you two are in the mood for,” Lorenzo replied. “I’m not hungry right now.”

Andrew dropped a kiss onto his temple before letting go, and left the room. Lorenzo was staring out of the window again with crossed arms and taut shoulders, and Andrew sighed and shook his head, softly closing the door behind him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I have children, and no, I'm nowhere near to being a textbook mum. Don't call the cops. I do make a mean banana bread, though.

To make sure Annie wouldn’t feel like she was about to be banished from the house, Andrew ordered her favourite pizza for dinner. It brought a tiny, tentative smile onto her face, but it vanished again when she realised the third chair at their table remained empty.

“Is Papá not coming?”

“He said he’s not hungry,” Andrew replied as he slid a slice of pineapple pizza onto her plate.

“Because he hates me,” Annie whispered, staring miserably at her food.

“Annie,” Andrew said with a sigh. “He doesn’t, and he said so himself. Why would he lie about that if he’s still angry? Because he is angry, yes, but he doesn’t hate you. Never.”

After a moment, Annie looked up at him, eyes filling with tears. “Are you angry too?”

“Yes, a bit.” Andrew took a slice of his own pizza. “But you know the rules, and you know what you did wrong. I know you’re sorry, and I’m reasonably sure you won’t do it again.”

Annie shook her head so fast it made her curls fly.

“So. You’re still grounded though, and you won’t get to see Maryse tomorrow, and no park with Catarina and Madzie on Saturday either.”

“Never again?” Annie asked with a trembling voice, eyes filling with tears.

“This week,” Andrew replied after taking a bite of his pizza. “And you don’t have to stay in your room all the time either. I’ll talk to Papá about that.”

Annie looked at the empty chair and back at her daddy. “Will he ever, ever talk to me again?”

“Of course.” Andrew put his pizza down. “He’s just... tired. The thing is...”

He took a deep breath and pressed his lips together, trying to think of a way to explain Lorenzo’s situation so she could understand it.

“You see, the vial, the one you broke?”

“I dropped it,” Annie said with a sniffle. “Because it moved.”

“It moved?”

Annie nodded, but looked at her plate. “It was so pretty, red and glittery, and I just wanted to look at it, and then the glittery stuff inside moved and I got scared and I dropped it.”

“Was it open?”

This time, Annie shook her head. “I just dropped it and it broke, and then there was this huge red cloud, and it hurt, and then Papá came running and he made it go away, and then he yelled at me because he had told me not to touch it.” A tear dropped onto her pizza.

“You see...” Andrew huffed out a breath with puffed cheeks. “He wasn’t angry because you hurt yourself. He was scared too, and when people are scared they sometimes yell and sound mean, because they don’t really think about what they say. He’s angry at you because... well you know why. But the thing is...”

He paused for a moment, and then decided that knowing all of it might help her understand Lorenzo’s reaction.

“You see,” he said again, “that red stuff is called saffron jinn essence, and Papá said it’s very, very rare, and very, very expensive, so he can’t just buy any more of it. And he was working on a potion that would fill up a warlock’s magic when they have used it all up, in a fight for example. And now he can’t finish that potion, and he has been working on it for a very long time.” He hesitated again, and took a deep breath before he continued, his voice as gentle as possible. “A long, long time ago, a friend of Papá died because he couldn’t help him, because he was out of magic. And that’s why he really, really wanted to make that potion, and that’s why he’s so angry now, and also sad, so he needs to be alone for a bit.”

“So warlocks are going to die because of me?” Annie asked in a horrified whisper, tears spilling from her eyes. “And Papá too?

“Angel, no!” Andrew took both her hands between both of his, realising with cold dread pooling in his stomach that he had made a horrible mistake, and that he needed a white lie to fix this. “He’s going to make it; it’s just going to take a little longer now. And warlocks hardly ever run totally out of magic anyway. Especially not Papá, because he has tons and tons of magic. And he can do martial arts. So, both tons of magic and he can really kick someone’s... yeah. You don’t have to be scared at all.”

He could have kicked _himself_; he had only tried to make it better, and now he had made it worse. So, within a single day, both he and Lorenzo had earned a qualification for a Bad Dad Award.

But then he remembered his own father, and the slap across the face he had gotten when he had discovered that Andrew had broken his stele. He remembered the derogatory comments when he had lost a sparring match, and the vitreous voice in which he had told Andrew that he should stop making the angels angry when Andrew had, in his teenage confusion, confided in him that he liked boys better than girls.

So maybe he wasn’t a perfect dad, but looking at Annie’s face now, and how the fear was vanishing out of her eyes again, he thought that maybe he wasn’t the worst dad either.

After tucking her in that night he meant to fetch Lorenzo so he would at least say good night to her, but as he was about to leave her room he was already there. He sat down on the bed and ran his fingers through her hair once, then leaned forward to drop a kiss onto her forehead before saying good night. He still looked drained, and tense, but he was clearly making an effort to let his daughter know that being angry and disappointed didn’t mean he hated her.

Lorenzo didn’t come to bed that night, at least not while Andrew was still awake, and when he got up Lorenzo was already up as well. He portalled Andrew to the Institute, and Andrew spent most of his shift in the Ops centre wondering about how the two would manage their day.

But when he came home he found them in the downstairs lounge, practising magic.

“You’re doing well,” was the first thing that Andrew heard. “Much better than last time.”

Andrew smiled, and leaned into the doorframe.

Annie was frowning in concentration as she floated an orb of magic around in front of her, the tip of her tongue sticking out and her hands glowing a pale turquoise instead of the usual gold. Lorenzo was standing directly behind her, magic summoned and dancing around his skin, his eyes on her instead of the ball.

“Make it a little larger,” Lorenzo said, his gaze on her hands. “Just a bit.”

Annie sucked her lower lip behind her teeth, and the ball in front of her grew in size. Very fast, and very big.

“Not that big!” Lorenzo leaned closer. “Stop!”

“I can’t!” Annie stared at the growing ball with widening eyes.

Lorenzo shot out a bolt of magic to dispel the orb of light that had been about to reach the ceiling, and the magic around Annie’s hands immediately turned from turquoise to gold. She sagged with a frustrated sob.

“I’m stupid!”

“No, you’re not,” Lorenzo said firmly. “Your magic, it’s just... difficult to control. It’s very powerful but also very... temperamental.”

“Like master, like man, hmm?” Andrew asked with a small smile.

“Daddy!” Annie dropped her frown and ran up to him to throw her arms around his midriff. Then she looked up. “What does that mean?”

“It means that your magic is like you. Temperamental, but also very pretty. I like the colour of your magic.”

“Let’s call it a day then,” Lorenzo said and walked over as well.

“Do I have to go back to my room?” Annie asked, but as usual, Lorenzo had a far higher resistance to her huge puppy eyes.

He tilted his head a little and lifted both eyebrows, and Annie dropped her head with a huff.

“I never get to use my magic!” she whined, and stomped up the stairs.

“Don’t!” Lorenzo said, and her door slowed down and then gently fell shut. “Slam the door,” Lorenzo finished in a low voice, shaking his head.

“How are you holding up?” Andrew asked, giving his husband a concerned look.

“Better than expected,” Lorenzo said and managed a small, if tired smile. “But magic lessons with her are really exhausting sometimes no matter what. Her magic is incredibly powerful and capricious, sometimes even almost volatile.” He looked up the stairs. “There’s no doubt she was sired by a powerful greater demon, but the energy signature is nothing like I ever encountered before. I even asked several other warlocks already, including Magnus, but no one knows any more than I do.”

“That’s why she still has your magic, right?” Andrew followed his eyes. “Because I remember Madzie at that age was using hers all on her own.”

“Yes,” Lorenzo said heavily. “And I do feel sorry for her, but you just witnessed what happens if I give her magic too much leash.”

“So, what can you do?”

“Nothing but practise,” Lorenzo replied with a shake of his head. “Train her ability to focus, and wait for her mental capacities to grow stronger.”

The door to Annie’s room flew open. “Can I have my tablet?”

“I thought we settled that!” Lorenzo said and turned around. “No, you can’t!”

“I’m going to die of boredom!” Annie snapped.

“You have a whole room full of toys and books!”

“They’re all boring!!”

Before Lorenzo could make another reply Annie slammed her door shut again.

“If you do that again you’re grounded for another week!” Lorenzo yelled up the stairs.

Andrew crossed his arms and exhaled a long and slow and heavy breath. Shaking his head Lorenzo vanished into the kitchen, and moments later Andrew could hear the hissing and whooshing of the coffee maker.

“Can I have one too?”

Lorenzo looked up, and then wordlessly handed him the cup before putting another one into the machine.

“I will have to go to the Spiral Labyrinth tomorrow,” he said after a moment.

“To get away from here?” Andrew asked without accusation, because he could see that Lorenzo was going through a really difficult moment right now. “I wouldn’t blame you if you need some breathing space.”

“No.” Lorenzo took his cup. “I need to see if I can find out more about her magic. Neither of us wants her to be dependent on me for so long.”

“Yeah, I guess after all that time you want your magic back as well?” Andrew inhaled the steam of mocha and blew into his cup.

“She is far more troubled by this than I am,” Lorenzo said. “I’m doing this for her sake, not mine.”

Andrew nodded and watched the swirls of foam on his mocha “And how long will you be gone?”

“Not longer than a day. I’m taking a sample with me, so hopefully I will find something.”

Andrew took a cautious, tiny sip. “So I guess the ‘not seeing Maryse’ thing is void now.”

“Yes, it definitely is.” Lorenzo shrugged. “Still no park with Madzie, though.”

“As long as we’re on the same page on that.” Andrew took another sip.

Upstairs the door to Annie’s room flew open again. “Can I go pee?!” she yelled.

“What kind of question is that even?” Lorenzo yelled back.

“Because I’m not allowed to do anything!!”

“Sweetie, don’t make him any angrier than he already is!” Andrew joined the discussion to defuse the situation.

After a moment they heard her stomp along the corridor. She didn’t slam the bathroom door, and she didn’t slam the door to her room either, but it was a near thing.

Lorenzo harrumphed and shook his head.

“I don’t want to think about how much you two are going to butt heads once she’s in puberty,” Andrew said, half-jokingly.

His husband gave him a glare over the rim of his cup. “Me neither.”

Dinner was a tense affair that night, and by bedtime Annie was crying again, dead convinced that Lorenzo hated her, and she didn’t even want him to say good night. Things were made worse when Lorenzo had already left for the Spiral Labyrinth the next morning before breakfast time, and Andrew could do no more than give Maryse a helpless, apologetic shrug when she arrived an hour later, Annie curled up into a little ball of misery on the sofa.


	3. Chapter 3

The next week started as tense as the last one had ended. Lorenzo spent most of his time in his study or the apothecary, brooding over books and scrolls, and no matter what Andrew tried – coffees in bed, offering massages, back rubs, or cuddles – nothing made any difference. He felt helpless, and frustrated, because he wanted to help and couldn’t, and Annie was deeply miserable because she had made her dads angry and sad.

So despite it being only early spring, Maryse tried ice cream and the swings in the park to cheer her up. To no avail.

“It’s my fault,” she said, her childish sorrow breaking Maryse’s heart. “I made Papá sad and angry and now Daddy is sad and angry too. Because I’m stupid.”

“No, you’re not stupid, sweetie.” Maryse’s voice was gentle, but firm. “You did something stupid, yes. But that doesn’t mean you are stupid. We all make mistakes. And then we have to apologize and try to fix it.”

“But I can’t fix it.” Annie blinked, and a tear ran down her cheek. “I broke it, and now it’s gone, and Papá can’t buy any more, and now he can’t make the potion anymore.”

Maryse reached out and brushed the tear away. After a moment Annie looked up at her.

“Do you think I could find more... so... sa...” She frowned. “Sa... sofa dish essence?”

“I don’t know, sweetie.” Maryse hastily reached out with her finger and caught a stray drop of melted ice cream that was about to drop onto Annie’s jacket. “Didn’t they say it was very, very rare and expensive?”

“But maybe I can find some?” Annie asked, hope lighting up her eyes. “And I have money. Lots!”

Maryse didn’t have the heart to tell her that it would be a lost undertaking, but didn’t know what else to do. Annie dropped her head again and listlessly licked her ice cream once, her cheeks glistening again.

But eventually Annie’s tears were too much for Maryse, so once they were back in the manor, she took out her phone to give Magnus a call.

_“Maryse! To what do I owe the pleasure?”_

“Magnus, I have to ask something...” Maryse took a deep breath. “Do you know anyone who sells rare potion ingredients?” She cast a look at Annie who stared up at her with big, hopeful eyes.

_“Ingredients?”_

“Yes... Annie broke one of Lorenzo’s vials he needed for research, and now she wants to see if we can replace it.”

_“I see,”_ Magnus said after a thoughtful pause. _“Well, there’s a very distinguished shop in Red Hook. I know the owner, she’s hard, but fair. That shop was always my go-to during my time as High Warlock. I’ll text you the address.”_

“Thank you, Magnus,” Maryse said with a smile for Annie. “We’ll head there straight away.”

“Thank you, Uncle Magnus!” Annie yelled at the phone.

_“Take care, Buttercup!”_ Magnus yelled back. _“Say hello to Greta for me!”_

Maryse slipped the phone back into her pocket. “So, you ready to go?”

“To?” Annie bit her lower lip.

“That special ingredient shop in Red Hook.”

Annie’s eyes lit up, and she stormed up the stairs and into her room, and moments later thundered down the stairs again, clutching her Rainbow Dash purse.

Since Lorenzo wasn’t available for a portal it took the two a while to get there, but they didn’t have any other plans anyway. They found the shop at the address Magnus had sent, but stopped before the door.

“Okay, Annie,” Maryse said, and tugged at the collar of Annie’s jacket. “Please don’t be too disappointed if we can’t find any, or if it’s too expensive, okay?”

Annie swallowed with a little sniffle, but nodded.

Maryse got up, took her hand, and cautiously pushed the door open.

They were greeted by a strange, earthy and herbal smell. Bundles of feathers, dried herbs and flowers, and of bones were hanging from the ceiling. There wasn’t an inch of wall visible anywhere between the shelves, and every surface was crammed with the strangest things: gnarled roots, bowls of teeth, jars of things that were unidentifiable, and books and scrolls by the hundreds.

Annie stared in fascinated horror at what seemed to be a mummified rat.

And behind the counter was a tall, dark-skinned woman with golden earrings and a pipe clamped between her teeth, mustering them with intense eyes. A pair of black, delicately curled horns grew from her temples and curved back over her head, almost perfectly blending in with the black, braided hair, apart from the tips that were capped in gold.

“Greta?” Maryse asked cautiously. “Magnus recommended your shop to us.”

“Magnus?” She took the pipe out of her mouth. “Bane?”

“The very one. He asked me to say hello.”

“Could well get his arse over here himself.” She put the pipe down, spotted Annie, and cleared her throat. “Anyway. What can I help you with?”

Annie fidgeted under her look, and after a moment, she took a deep breath. “I need...” she began, very hesitantly, and looked at her fiddling hands. “Do you have any... any... sofa dish essence?”

Greta stared at her, blinking like an owl. After a few seconds she slowly walked around the counter and went into a crouch before her.

“Have I what now?”

“Sa... safo dish essence?” Annie sucked at her lower lip. “Because...” She broke off and dropped her head, staring at her feet. “I was in Papá’s apothecary and broke the bottle, and now he’s sad and angry because it’s gone, and he wanted to make a potion so warlocks won’t have to die, but he can’t because I broke it, and I want to buy a new one so he isn’t sad and angry anymore.”

Greta looked at Maryse who could only shrug.

“So...” Greta looked at Annie again. “You... snuck into... your father’s apothecary and broke a bottle of...?”

“It was red, and glittery,” Annie muttered, still not looking up. “And there was a big red cloud and it burned and Papá had to heal me because it hurt, and then he was angry because it was so expensive. But I have money!” And here she looked up again. “Lots of money! I’ve been saving my pocket money for like ever!”

Greta still stared at her, mouthing the words ‘sofa dish essence’ a few times until she was able to put things together.

“Red and glittery, and it burned you?” she asked, and when Annie nodded, she tilted her head questioningly. “Do you mean saffron jinn essence, by any chance?”

“Yes!” Annie nodded fiercely. “Do you have some?”

“Do I...” Greta cleared her throat and stood up again. “There’s nothing in this world that I do not carry. But saffron jinn essence is very, very expensive, little one.”

“But I have a lot of money,” Annie said again, and held out her little blue purse. “A hundred and thirty and eight dollars!”

“That’s...” Greta closed her mouth and opened it again. “That is a lot of money. But...”

“You don’t have any?” Annie asked in a tiny, miserable voice, her eyes filling with tears again.

Greta rubbed a hand across the back of her neck. It was obvious that she wanted to help, but wasn’t quite sure how.

“It’s not enough?” Annie sniffled. “Maybe I can buy just a little bit? Just a little little bit?”

“With your pocket money?”

Annie sniffled again and swallowed. “I was bad, and stupid, because Papá told me not to touch it, but I touched it and then I broke it, and Daddy always says that when you make a mistake you have to fix it. And Uncle Magnus said you have everything.”

“Well,” Greta said after a long, thoughtful pause. She looked at Maryse, and back at Annie and her purse, and at Maryse again. “Hang on.” With that she vanished through a curtain behind the counter.

Annie fidgeted, shifting her weight from one foot to the other while frantically chewing her lips. Maryse rested a hand on her head and smoothed a few strands of hair back from her face, but it didn’t calm Annie down the slightest.

“Right,” Greta said to Annie as she reappeared. She was holding a small, black box.

“I can sell some of my toys at the flea market in Brooklyn if it’s not enough,” Annie said, eyes wide and shiny as she lost the grip on her glamour. “And my books!”

Greta stared at her, at Maryse, at the box, and back at the little warlock girl with shimmering turquoise eyes looking up at her in trepidation.

“Look, I’m making you a special offer,” Greta said then with a huff. “You can have it for a hundred and twenty dollars. Mate’s rates. Because you’re friends with Magnus.”

Annie’s eyes widened even more, and with her mouth hanging open she nodded so hard and fast it looked as if it might give her whiplash. She opened the purse and poured a stream of coins into Greta’s hands, interspersed with a few very crumpled bills.

Greta counted the money, and after pocketing the hundred and twenty, handed Annie the rest of it back. It was clearly selling the substance much below value, but she also didn’t want to disappoint a little girl, who was a friend of Magnus’, to boot.

“Pleasure doing business with you, Miss...?” she said, tilting her head.

“Annie!” Annie stared at the box and wiped the back of her hand across her eyes.

“Annie.” Greta nodded and cast a quick seal around the box so it could only be opened with magic, then handed it to Annie who grabbed it and pressed it to her chest.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“And no more touching things in your Papá’s-”

“Never!!” Annie forcefully shook her head. “Never ever ever again!”

Maryse now stepped to her side, went into a crouch and rested a hand on her cheek. “I’m proud of you, sweetie. It was a hard thing to do, but it was the right thing to do.”

“Is Papá going to be okay now?” Annie asked, tears glistening on her eyelashes.

Maryse nodded with a smile, and dropped a kiss onto her forehead as she got up. She offered Annie her hand, and Annie took it after looking at Greta one more time.

“Thank you,” she said meekly.

“Come again,” Greta replied, and busied herself with her pipe. “But don’t go telling anyone or they all want to come here and be friends and get things cheap.”

Annie shook her head again, clutching the box. “Never ever!”

“So... should we go see the ducks, sweetie?” Maryse asked as they closed the door behind her.

But Annie shook her head. “I want to go home to Papá.”

“Sure thing.” Maryse shouldered her bag. “Should I take that?”

Annie shook her head and pressed the box even tighter to her chest, and didn’t let go off it, or take her eyes off it, for a single moment on their way home.

Still clutching the box while kicking off her shoes, Annie looked around as soon as she stepped through the door. “Papá?”

“I don’t think he’s home yet, sweetie,” Maryse said, stepping to her side. “We can play Chutes and Ladders, if you want?”

Annie shook her head and fell onto the nearest sofa. “I just want to wait for Papá,” she said, pulled up her knees, and curled around the box.

Maryse shook her head with a sigh, but took her knitting out of her bag and sat down next to her.

They had to wait for almost two hours before finally, a portal appeared in the hallway, and both Andrew and Lorenzo stepped out.

“And I told him that I don’t have time for that nonsense,” Lorenzo said to Andrew as they headed for the lounge. “Although I chose to phrase it a little more tactfully, and he said-” Both men stopped when they caught sight of Maryse and their daughter curled up next to her.

“Is Annie okay?” Andrew asked.

Annie uncurled slowly and sat up, and nervously chewed on her lips a few times. “I... I got something for you, Papá.”

Lorenzo lifted his eyebrows, and watched in mild confusion as she hesitantly walked closer, not meeting his eyes. Having reached him she held out the box.

Lorenzo took it and looked at his husband, who crossed his arms and shook his head with a shrug. He exhaled softly and inspected the box, his frown deepening as he discovered the magic seal, and summoned his own magic to break it. Then he slowly and carefully opened it.

He froze, and his eyes widened almost comically.

“What...” He looked up at Andrew, who stared at the box with parted lips, then down at his daughter who was still standing there with hunched shoulders, her head hanging down. “Where did you get that?”

“I bought it,” Annie whispered, kneading her hands.

“Bought it?” Blinking slowly, Lorenzo shook his head.

“From Greta, in Red Hook,” Maryse supplied. “Magnus recommended her.”

“Magnus?” Lorenzo stared at his husband again. “And he told you to...?”

“She thought of it all by herself,” Maryse said calmly. “She wanted to fix the mistake she made.”

Lorenzo swallowed audibly, then he closed the box and carefully slipped it into the pocket of his jacket.

“Annie,” he said and went into a crouch. “Where did you get the money?”

“It’s my money,” Annie said in a small voice.

“Your money?” Lorenzo gently took her chin between two fingers to make her look at him. “Your pocket money?”

Annie blinked her tears away and nodded.

“The money you saved to buy the unicorn?”

She couldn’t suppress a small sob and nodded again, tears spilling over. “I don’t want you to be angry and sad and I don’t want warlocks to die so I bought it so you can make your potion.”

Lorenzo was completely at a loss for words. He looked up at Andrew, who was by now smiling down at them, and then at Maryse who had the same expression on her face.

“Annie...”

“I don’t want you to hate me!” Annie blurted out, and burst into tears.

Lorenzo stared at her for a moment longer before he leaned forward to pull her close. “Angelita...” he whispered, and Annie slung her arms around him and buried her face into his shoulder. “ I don’t. I never did. I could never hate you no matter what.”

Then he slowly got up, with Annie clinging to him like a burdock, and sat down on the sofa where he settled her in his lap. She burrowed into his embrace, her arms still clamped around him, and Lorenzo shook his head over and over again.

“Lo siento, Papá,” Annie whispered against the skin of his neck. “Lo siento mucho.”

“Yo sé eso,” Lorenzo replied gently. “Está bien.”

“Te gusto de nuevo?” Her voice was trembling, hardly audible.

Lorenzo exhaled softly and rested his cheek on her crown. “Te quiero, angelita. Siempre te querré.”

Maryse wiped her fingers across her lower eyelids, and Andrew folded his hands behind him with a smile, his eyes moist as well.


	4. Chapter 4

The next almost-catastrophe happened after three of them had walked a little like on egg shells around each other for a few days, as soon as they tried to go back to normal.

Annie was apprehensive about her magic lesson, and Lorenzo a little distracted by a warlock from Paris who wanted Lorenzo’s help with a ritual and wouldn’t take no for an answer. After several calls Lorenzo had switched off the phone, but in his mildly irritated state his reaction time was a little off.

Sparks flew from Annie’s hands, and before Lorenzo could reach out, a burst of turquoise magic erupted from the girl that shot out into the vague direction where she had been trying to steer an orb of light.

And now she stared in horror at the remnants of Lorenzo’s portrait by Monet, tears already welling up in her eyes.

Lorenzo stared at the charred frame and the all but obliterated canvas as well, and back at his daughter. Then he went into a crouch.

“Look at me, angelita,” he said gently.

Annie stared at him with huge, tear-filled eyes. “I’m sorry, Papá...” Her voice was quivering.

“I know.” Lorenzo tugged a curl behind her ear. “It was an accident, and I wasn’t paying proper attention.”

“But... your picture?” Annie wiped a hand across her nose.”

“I’m glad this time you didn’t get hurt.” Lorenzo snapped his fingers to summon a tissue, to clean away her tears and wipe her nose. Another snap, and the soiled tissue was gone. “Because that picture... it’s just a thing.”

“But you liked that picture,” Annie said, sniffing and wiping the back of her hand across her nose again.

“It’s just a thing,” Lorenzo said again. “And I like you more.”

He booped her nose, and the small blue butterfly rising up from the tip of her nose made her giggle.

“We should call it a day,” he said then and straightened up again. “Are you hungry?”

“Is there banana bread?” Annie skipped along into the kitchen next to him.

“I don’t think so,” Lorenzo replied and opened a cupboard with a frown. “You have to badger your dad into making a new one.”

“Can’t you conjure up some?”

Lorenzo looked down at her and raised both eyebrows. “Last time,” he began and dramatically crossed his arms, “you said it doesn’t taste as good as the one Daddy bakes.”

Annie chewed on her lower lip and looked up at him out of huge, blue eyes. “This time it’s going to be better!”

“If you think so,” Lorenzo said, and equally dramatic, waved his hands about to conjure up a new loaf of banana bread.

“Yummy!” Annie said as he handed her a slice.

“You haven’t even tasted it yet,” Lorenzo remarked with an amused little chuckle.

“I know it tastes great because you made it!” And she bit into it, and hopped up and down like a bouncy ball while spinning around and chanting _yummy yummy yummy yummy._

Lorenzo huffed out another chuckle and switched on the coffee maker.

The coffee had just finished dripping when a portal in the lounge appeared. Lorenzo looked up with a small frown of annoyance, but it turned into an expression of worry when he saw the state Magnus was in. He had the wide-eyed, frazzled appearance of someone who had received – or is about to relate – horribly bad news.

Annie remained oblivious and threw herself at him, in complete disregard of the slice of banana bread.

“Hey, Buttercup,” Magnus said and flashed her a short, nervous smile. “I need to talk to your Papá. Really... really urgently. And in private.” He looked at Lorenzo, meeting his eyes. “Now.”

Lorenzo took a deep breath and both of them looked at Annie who stuffed the last bit of her banana bread into her mouth. Chewing with her cheeks full she looked back and forth between the two men.

After a moment, Lorenzo took out his phone.

“Yes, Maryse, it’s Lorenzo.” He cleared his throat. “I have a bit of a situation here and was wondering if you could come and pick up Annie for... a while?”

He nodded a few times as he listened to the reply, and after slipping the phone back into his pocket, opened a portal. Maryse stepped out immediately after, and caught Annie in midair as she launched herself at Maryse in full speed.

“Hey there, sweetie!” Settling Annie on her hip Maryse looked at Lorenzo, then at Magnus. His facial expression made her smile dim considerably. “Why don’t you get your coat and boots and we can go feed the ducks, hmm?”

Annie didn’t need a second invitation, and accepted the bag with a few slices of banana bread that Lorenzo handed her with a huge, bright smile.

“Thank you, Papá!” she said and clamped her arms around his midriff for a hug that left a smear of banana bread on his shirt. Then she skipped into the portal, followed by Maryse who shot the warlocks a mildly nervous look before she followed her.

“So,” Lorenzo said and looked at Magnus as soon as the portal had closed, absentmindedly banishing the banana bread off his shirt. “You look like the harbinger of doom.”

“I guess I am,” Magnus said, kneading his hands. He walked a few steps towards the window, and back again, and after Lorenzo watched him do that few times, he cleared his throat.

“Maybe you should just get it over with?”

Magnus stopped pacing and dropped his hands. “Annie is how old now? Six?”

Hearing his daughter’s name coming from Magnus while he was in such a state made a cold knot form in Lorenzo’s stomach. “Her seventh birthday is right around the corner, why?”

Magnus shook his head and took a deep breath. “Remember back when, after Russia, I came here to help deal with the magic loss? And I said I had yet to find out why those warlocks would risk so much to get her back?”

Lorenzo crossed his arms and nodded, his lips a tight line.

“Well.” Magnus gave him a bright fake-smile with raised eyebrows. “I found out.”

Lorenzo exhaled softly through his nose.

Magnus shook his head. “I guess you dimly remember the two warlocks Alec arrested. Not that their faces matter. Anyway, one of them committed suicide in his cell day before yesterday, and the other was put under strict observation after that. This morning however he started begging to see me, according to the guards watching him.”

Magnus fiddled with his rings for a moment, avoiding Lorenzo’s eyes. Lorenzo waited, but couldn’t help tapping his fingers on his forearm. Magnus noticed that and looked up at him.

“The reason why the little angel was so precious to them, and also why she is so powerful, is... she’s...” Magnus swallowed and licked his lips. “She is the daughter of Baal,” Magnus said after another moment’s hesitation.

“That’s not the only problem to judge by the way you look right now.” Lorenzo had to force his fingers still.

“No.” Magnus took a step closer. “They made a blood pact, Lorenzo. A blood pact with Baal.”

Lorenzo stared at Magnus with parted lips, frozen on the spot. “For her life?” It was a horrified whisper.

“Not exactly,” Magnus said and took another deep breath. “The blood oath is... they were given the child, a powerful warlock, to use for their spells, and as despicable as that is, it gets worse. Because the child is only a... a loan, if you will. On her seventh birthday, Baal will take her back.”

“Over my dead body!” Lorenzo snapped, dropping his arms.

“Yours, Andrew’s, and mine, and those of half of New York’s Institute, plus several other valuable members of the Shadow World,” Magnus replied grimly. “But the real problem is the blood oath. Because... well, I don’t have to remind you.”

“That a blood oath opens a door?” Lorenzo shook his head with a bitter smile. “So, we will have a powerful greater demon saunter into New York in three days’ time as freely as you please because some... idiots meddled with powers they couldn’t comprehend?”

“Basically, yes.” Magnus huffed out an angry sigh. “That, and said demon is after a warlock girl she sees as her property.”

“So, what now?” Lorenzo ran both hands over his head.

“We need to protect her, obviously.” Magnus replied. “And find a way to get rid of Baal once she shows up here.”

“Of course we do,” Lorenzo replied. “I was hoping you’d have something more concrete.”

Magnus shook his head, fiddling with his rings. “I only found out about it this morning and haven’t had the chance to dig any deeper into this yet. I needed to cancel appointments, and talk to the surviving warlock again.”

“And... did he give you anything useful?”

“Not really.” Magnus looked at Lorenzo again. “Obviously, Baal couldn’t just sire the child, on account of being a female demon and all, so there was a... very complicated ritual, which involved the other warlock, the dead one, acting as a vessel for Baal to pass on her essence. And now he killed himself in fear of Baal’s rage, and the other one is shitting himself for the very same reason.”

“So she is really her blood child,” Lorenzo said with a heavy sigh. “That explains a lot.”

“A lot?” Magnus stopped fiddling to look at him.

“Her volatile magic,” Lorenzo replied. “If Baal made her powerful enough to survive being used as a battery for so long, and wanted her back after that... then it’s no wonder why she has so little control over it. It’s too much to handle for such a small child.”

“Well... makes sense.” Magnus sighed as well, and looked at Lorenzo with a crooked little grin. “And here I thought you were still guarding her magic because you’re such a mother hen.”

Lorenzo huffed and shook his head, a small, mirthless smile on his face. “I wish.”

“Be that as it may.” Magnus looked around. “Obviously, we need to make sure the wards around here are as strong as possible.”

“I can’t imagine even the strongest wards would stop a demon as powerful as her,” Lorenzo said with a frown.

“No, but it would slow her down and gives us a warning,” Magnus replied. “All we need it a single portal’s head start, to get Annie out of here and the Shadowhunters in.”

“You’d send a group of Shadowhunters against a greater demon?” Lorenzo crossed his arms again, his lips a tight line.

“Not just a handful,” Magnus said firmly. “And not just any Shadowhunters. The best. And it’s not the first time we’re dealing with a greater demon in New York, remember?”

“But not Baal.”

“No, not Baal.” Magnus looked around again. “I mean, it’s not Lillith, but...” He huffed. “If you have any better idea, I’m all ears.”

“Not at this point,” Lorenzo replied heavily.

“Then I suggest we get started on the wards.” Magnus looked around again. “We have three days, so we have to make them count.”

Lorenzo nodded and dropped his arms again, taking a deep breath. “Annie cannot know of this. She mustn’t know.” He looked at Magnus. “She’ll be terrified. We have to keep this a secret from her.”

“On the other hand,” Magnus gave back hesitantly, “would telling her... maybe... give us an edge? If she knows that her demonic parent is looking for her, she won’t trust any stranger as easily, no matter what they say.”

“Do you think I’ll let her leave the house and run around in New York while a greater demon might be prowling around to find her?” Lorenzo stared at him with widening eyes. “Really?”

Magnus took a deep breath. “Point taken.” He shook his head and fiddled with his ear cuff. “But what are you going to tell her when she asks why she can’t go outside?”

Lorenzo dropped his head back and stared at the ceiling. “Where is a cold when you need one,” he muttered with a groan.

“You could...” Magnus began hesitantly.

“I could what?” Lorenzo looked at him again. “Make my own child intentionally sick?”

“If it helps to save her from being kidnapped by a greater demon?” Magnus lifted both hands in a helpless gesture. “I don’t like this thought any more than you do!”

“I can’t,” Lorenzo said, shaking his head. “I can’t do that, Magnus.”

“Of course you can’t,” Magnus replied gently. “It’s a thought born from sheer desperation.”

Lorenzo stared unhappily at his feet, gritting his teeth.

“Maybe it’s enough to keep her home on her actual birthday,” Magnus said then. “After all, the blood oath opens the door on that day, not before.”

“I...” Lorenzo swallowed. “I can’t deal with maybes in this scenario.”

“It’s the best we have,” Magnus replied flatly. “For now, at least. At the very least, we got a warning. I’ll inform Idris about the greater demon threat, and I guess you and Andrew alert he Institute. Maybe the Nephilim know something that we don’t. Or the Silent Brothers.”

“Maybe,” Lorenzo replied, the world burning like ice on his tongue. “Someone should also check the archives in the Spiral Labyrinth.”

“You take the Institute,” Magnus said, pointing at Lorenzo, “and I’ll go back to Idris. We can meet again here tonight and go there together. Two pairs of eyes are better than one.”

Lorenzo nodded and opened a portal, almost simultaneously with Magnus opening his.

“See you in a few hours,” Magnus said, and stepped into the portal.

Lorenzo watched the portal snap shut, and ran both hands down his face with a small groan before stepping into the portal himself.


	5. Chapter 5

The portal closed behind him, and Lorenzo exhaled long and hard before opening his eyes.

“Lorenzo!” Andrew’s smile vanished the moment Lorenzo stepped closer. “What the hell happened?” He put the tablet down with a lot more force than necessary, report forgotten.

“I need to speak to you and Isabelle,” Lorenzo said. “As Head of the Institute and Head of Security. Now. It’s an emergency.”

Andrew swallowed, and after a deep breath, he nodded. “Let’s go.”

Isabelle looked up with a smile as they entered her office, but it vanished as quickly as Andrew’s smile had, upon seeing the state Lorenzo was in. 

“What happened?”

Lorenzo closed the door and took a deep breath. 

“We have a greater demon threat,” he began. “Magnus was just here and informed me of...” He shook his head. “I have to start at the beginning.”

Isabelle’s face darkened considerably as she listened to Lorenzo’s explanation, and Andrew grew more and more pale and grim, gritting his teeth so hard his cheekbones protruded. 

“So we have three days,” Isabelle said, and grabbed a tablet from her desk. “And Magnus is alerting Idris, you say?”

Lorenzo nodded, exhaling softly as Andrew stepped to his side, resting a hand on his shoulder. He reached up and put his hand atop Andrew’s, and felt a tiny bit of the tension leave him; whatever happened, whatever needed to be done, he wasn’t alone in this. 

“I’m putting the Institute on high alert,” Isabelle said, and put the tablet down again. “I’ll also request back-up from Idris.” Then she looked at Lorenzo. “What about the warlocks?”

“I’ll call in an emergency meeting now,” Lorenzo replied. “The more back-up the Shadowhunters have, the better.”

“Okay.” Isabelle looked at Andrew, and back at Lorenzo. “You can bring her here; maybe she’ll be safer behind the Institute’s angelic wards?”

“Thank you for offering,” Lorenzo replied. “I’d rather not do that at this point. I don’t want to scare her.” He cast Andrew a look. “But if we can hide her here when we have to portal her out, that would help.”

“Of course,” Isabelle replied with a smile, but it vanished again as she looked at her desk. “We shall keep your mansion and your apartment in Brooklyn under high alert observation, and I’m going to double patrol rate and size. Underhill?”

“We shouldn’t thin the surveillance net to deploy drones to Lawrence and Brooklyn,” Andrew replied, “so we need to put out more drones.”

“Go ahead. As many as you think we’ll need.”

Andrew nodded, and after squeezing Lorenzo’s shoulder, he dropped his arm and headed for the door. “I’m on it.”

Lorenzo nodded with a tight-lipped ghost of a smile. 

“Lorenzo, is there anything else we can do?” Isabelle asked as the door fell shut.

He looked back at Isabelle with a small shrug. “I don’t know, not at this point. Magnus and I are going to meet again later to set up a new, stronger set of wards around my house, and then we shall head to the Spiral Labyrinth to do some research on Baal. Hopefully we find some weakness we can use against her.”

Isabelle nodded thoughtfully, but before she could reply, Lorenzo’s phone rang. 

“Magnus?”

_“Idris is aware of the threat,”_ Magnus said. _“Alexander is already on his way into the archives of Alicante, and has sent his deputy with a message to the Silent Brothers. Luke should be there by now, so hopefully, tomorrow we’ll have more to work with. Also, Alec has started the process of putting together a strike team as reinforcement for the Institute in New York.”_

Lorenzo heaved a sigh with closed eyes. “Thank you. I’m presently at the Institute, but I’ll head back to the manor now, to start on the wards.”

_“I’ll be joining you there.”_

“Thank you.”

Lorenzo slipped the phone back into his pocket and looked at Isabelle.

“I’ll take over from here,” she said firmly. “We’re officially on high alert, so we do our part, and you do yours. Please keep me informed if you find anything.”

“I will,” Lorenzo replied and opened a portal. “Thank you.”

Isabelle just nodded, and Lorenzo stepped into the portal, to find Magnus already waiting for him. 

“Then let’s get this thing started,” Magnus said and snapped his fingers. “Ready when you are.”

Lorenzo snapped his fingers as well to summon his magic, and the two warlocks set to work.

* * *

The last time Magnus and Lorenzo had merged their magic to work together had been to fight Lillith. The symbolism behind doing it again now to fight another greater demon didn’t escape them, but they didn’t reminisce too long on the fact after they were done. Lorenzo had just finished brewing two mochas, handing Magnus one, when his phone rang. It was Maryse asking for a portal home from her shop.

Moments later, Maryse stepped out, holding Annie’s hand. She was crying her eyes out. 

A snap of his fingers to displace the cup into the kitchen, and Lorenzo went down onto one knee before her. “Annie?”

She sniffled, took a deep breath, but couldn’t speak because of another sob. Lorenzo tilted his head, taking one of her hands. 

“The unicorn!” she finally blurted out. “It’s gone!”

With that she pushed past him, ran up the stairs before Lorenzo had the chance to say something, and vanished in her room without even closing the door. Her desperate sobs were audible even in the lounge.

Lorenzo looked up at Maryse and swallowed. Maryse shook her head with a sigh as Lorenzo got up again, looking at the stairwell. 

The unicorn was a white-furred, pink/purple/turquoise-maned atrocity that Annie had found in the window of a toy store close to Maryse’s shop. It looked like the love child of a bean bag and a hippo, had a slightly floppy golden horn, and the facial expression of someone happily stoned out of their skull. It was also roughly the size of a Newfoundland dog. 

It was the most beautiful thing in the world, and Annie had decided on the spot that she had to have it. And using this to practice that not everything in life should be achieved with magic even if it could, her dads had encouraged Annie to work for that unicorn. An empty dishwasher here, a tidied room there, she had saved up her pocket money to buy the plush unicorn of her dreams. 

But she had used almost all of the money she had saved up, when she had been only twenty-two dollars away from her goal, and now someone else had bought it. 

Lorenzo straightened the lapels of his jacket while clearing his throat. There had never been a second of doubt in this house as to what exactly her dads thought of that horrible thing, but that didn’t mean they discouraged her from trying to achieve her goals. 

“And wouldn’t that have been the perfect birthday present?” Magnus muttered.

Annie had made sure that no one in their circle of family, friends, and acquaintances remained oblivious of the magical animal of her dreams

“Bit late for that now,” Maryse replied with a shrug. 

“I beg your pardon?” Magnus thrust out his finger at her. “With a warlock as her godfather?”

“It was a lesson she had to learn,” Maryse replied sternly.

“Shadowhunters,” Magnus huffed and threw up his arms.

“That really has no priority now,” Lorenzo interjected forcefully. “If we don’t fix the issue at hand she will never need another birthday present again.”

Even as he said it, the words made a cold shudder run down his spine. Lorenzo closed his eyes and took a deep breath through his nose, and exhaled again on a heavy sigh. His head was still spinning from the horrible news Magnus had brought with him earlier; it was so hard to grasp that suddenly, her birthday now meant wards and preparing against a greater demon attack instead of deciding what colours of balloons to buy.

“I guess you’re right,” Magnus said with a sigh. “You’re ready?”

Lorenzo looked at the grandfather clock at the other wall of the lounge. “I probably should wait until Andrew gets home,” he said hesitantly.

“Where do you need to be?” Maryse asked. “I can stay here, if you need me to?”

“The Spiral Labyrinth,” Magnus replied. “We need to dig into old books and scrolls that you can’t find anywhere else, to look for information about Baal.”

“Then go,” Maryse said firmly. “I take care of Annie until Andrew comes home. Go.”

Magnus nodded and opened a portal. “After you,” he said to Lorenzo.

“Thank you,” Lorenzo said to Maryse with a nod before stepping into the portal. 

“I keep Andrew up to date,” Maryse said, and with a nod of his own, Magnus stepped into the portal as well. 

After a moment, Maryse combed her hair back with both hands and rolled her shoulders with a deep breath. Then she headed into the kitchen to make a large glass of chocolate milk, and equipped with that she slowly headed up the stairs to see if she could console Annie maybe just a little bit.

* * *

When Lorenzo stepped out of the portal again it was past midnight, yet there was light from the dining room shining through the kitchen even though the house was completely silent. A flick of magic sent the armful of books and scrolls into his study, and he slowly walked through the kitchen and stopped in the door to the dining room.

Andrew was sitting slumped over at the table, a cup of coffee before him that seemed to have gone cold hours ago. He wasn’t asleep though; his fingertips were constantly digging into his hair.

“Andrew?”

Andrew jumped out of his chair so fast it toppled over. He upended the coffee mug and almost the whole table, and within the blink of an eye Lorenzo was staring at the business end of the seraph blade Andrew kept in his thigh holster. His magic flared up by sheer instinct.

For a heartbeat, the only sound was the soft pattering of drops hitting the carpet.

“Shit!” Andrew dropped the blade like a hot potato. “Don’t scare me like that!”

“Excuse me,” Lorenzo said carefully, the light dying around his hands. “You have always been more than aware of your surroundings, thanks to your Shadowhunter senses and reflexes.”

“Yeah, and those reflexes almost got you killed right now.” Andrew stared at him, his face pale. “Are you okay?”

“I wouldn’t have survived for centuries if I could be taken unawares like that so easily,” Lorenzo replied drily and took a step forward. “Of course I am.”

Andrew huffed out a heavy breath and combed his fingers through his hair. By the looks of it he had done that for a while already, his hair was a mess.

“What are you doing down here anyway at this hour? Keeping watch?”

Andrew shrugged. “Not really. You know how two nightshifts in a row mess with my sleep schedule.”

“I know.” Lorenzo took another step and reached out to smooth Andrew’s hair back. “Should I find you a tonic?”

“Maybe.” Andrew looked at the cup, and the puddle of coffee. “Sorry about that.”

Lorenzo snapped his fingers, and the coffee spill was gone from both table and the floor, and the cup disappeared clean and dry into the cupboard. A wry little smile appeared on Andrew’s lips, then he shrugged and bent down to retrieve his dagger. Slipping it back into the thigh holster he looked up again. 

“And how was your venture?”

“Better than I dared to hope for,” Lorenzo replied as they left the dining room. “I have a few scrolls, and a book that I am sure holds the answers to our questions.”

“And the catch is?” Andrew tilted his head.

Lorenzo stopped at the bottom of the stairs. Andrew could read him, his body language and facial expressions, like an open book. It was almost scary sometimes, in moments like these however nothing but comforting. 

“That particular tome is several hundred pages,” Lorenzo replied, lowering his voice as they head up the stairs. “Written in a very ancient, very difficult demonic language. It’s going to take me a while to go through that.”

“Damn.” Andrew followed Lorenzo into the study and closed the door behind him, his eyes resting on the two books, a wooden box, and a bundle of scrolls.

“Can I help at all?” he asked, despite knowing he couldn’t.

“I’m afraid not,” Lorenzo said and unrolled one of the scrolls. “I assume you can neither read 11th century Cantonese or ancient Maya hieroglyphs.”

“Ah... no.” Andrew crossed his arms. 

Lorenzo gave him a gentle smile, to let him know that he wasn’t judging him for a lack of knowledge he couldn’t possibly possess, and snapped his fingers to summon a pair of thin, black leather gloves. He took the two books resting on the box and put them aside, then opened the box with a flick of magic. 

The book he levitated out of it was large, and thick, bound in thick, dark leather, the corners of the binding capped in gold with intricate, delicate chasing. The leather binding was embossed with elaborate ornaments of floral designs, but despite its beauty the book radiated an air of danger and foreboding like the stench of death. Lorenzo summoned a large piece of cloth onto the table before putting the book down.

Putting the box aside, he opened one of the other books. “These are compendia,” he explained as Andrew stepped closer, eyeing the books with interest. “I’ll likely need them to go through the tome itself.”

Andrew’s eyes rested on the old, heavy tome again. “Isn’t there a way to put the knowledge of a language in people’s heads?” he asked. “Maybe I could help with the reading then?”

“There is,” Lorenzo replied. “But it’s a very complicated process, and I’m afraid in this situation it won’t save us any time. Besides,” he looked at the tome, “the language of that tome has driven mundanes to madness from even looking at the writing, and I have no intention of finding out if the same holds true with Nephilim. Don’t touch that!”

Andrew had been casually reaching for one of the smaller books, his hand passing the large tome, and he hastily pulled his hand back. 

“That is no... ordinary leather,” Lorenzo explained hesitantly, and pulled on the gloves. 

Andrew stared at him, at the book, and back at Lorenzo. “Is that...”

“Yes.” Lorenzo took a deep breath. “And the pages aren’t lamb skin parchment either.”

Closing his eyes with a visible shudder, Andrew took a small step back, unable to resist the urge to wipe his fingers on his trouser leg even if he hadn’t been anywhere close to touching the book.

“The kind of magic that saturates this book has been resisting all efforts of copying it by magic, and so far only excerpts of short sections exist because even a warlock mind can engage this scripture only for a limited amount of time.” Lorenzo took a deep breath, forcing himself past the revulsion of touching the book, even with gloves on. “I hate having this here, but I need to work through this as fast as possible, and I really don’t want to spend too much time away from home right now. Best get it over with.” Then he looked up at Andrew again. “In the apothecary, left cabinet, upper door, upper shelf, is a small black bottle, a square one. You can’t miss it.”

Andrew nodded and left, to come back a moment later with the bottle. “That one?”

“Yes, that one.” Lorenzo still kept the book closed. “It’s the sleeping tonic I was talking about.”

“Okay.” Andrew looked up from the bottle. “Can you portal me to the Institute? I can see if the drone operations are running according to plan, and can catch some sleep there.”

Lorenzo lifted both eyebrows questioningly, but opened the portal.

Andrew stepped closer with a shrug. “I don’t sleep well alone in that huge bed,” he said with a small, lopsided smile, and dropped a kiss onto the corner of Lorenzo’s lips. “See you tomorrow. And remember that you have to sleep as well.”

A small smile on his lips, Lorenzo nodded, and took another deep breath after the portal had closed again. He sat down, took one of the smaller books, and after another moment’s hesitation, opened the magic tome with a shudder.


	6. Chapter 6

Lorenzo had spent a few hours working on that horrible book, but at one point it had given him a headache and he had turned to the scrolls instead. By sunrise he had finished those, to no avail as what little information they contained was useless. He locked the tome away again and portalled to the Spiral labyrinth to return the scrolls, and from there to his apartment in Brooklyn, his official work residence.

Not soon after he had prepared coffee, tea, and a choice of nibbles, the warlocks began to arrive, and once he was sure that they were complete, Lorenzo asked for attention and proceeded with explaining the greater demon threat, and the reason for it.

“So those two fools really thought they could strike a deal with Baal and walk away from it?” Catarina asked. “Really?”

“Apparently,” Lorenzo replied. “And now we somehow have to deal with the consequences. Be on your guard, you know her powers of mind-bending and manipulation.”

“And what about Annie?” Catarina asked. “How do we keep her safe?”

“I’m working on it,” Lorenzo said after a deep breath. “Magnus and I have reinforced the wards around the mansion, and we are in the process of setting up a plan of action.”

“You and Magnus?” Catarina looked around.

“And the Institute, obviously.”

“Lorenzo.” Vincent, a warlock who Lorenzo had never gotten particularly well along with, now lifted one hand. “You need more than two warlocks and a handful of Shadowhunters to deal with a demon like Baal.”

Lorenzo took another deep breath and looked around, from face to face. He swallowed, and inhaled deeply for the third time.

“A little more than eight years ago,” he began hesitantly, “I explicitly forbade Magnus Bane to engage a greater demon, and everyone else from helping him, to protect the warlock community. At that point Lillith did not pose a threat to any of us.”

“And you hated his guts,” Catarina said drily.

Lorenzo cleared his throat. “Yes, that’s not a secret. Be that as it may, I called this meeting to warn you. Recruiting warlocks to help me and offer their magic to engage a greater demon who is not a threat to any of you, to protect someone I love...” He shook his head. “It would be more than hypocritical.”

In the silence that followed, several looks were exchanged between the warlocks in attendance. Some shrugged, some shook their head, and some just kept looking at Lorenzo.

“I’m not going to let anything happen to her,” Catarina said suddenly into the silence. “I know you said you won’t recruit us, but I’m not going to hide somewhere while Annie is in danger. You need more hands on deck, Lorenzo.”

“Thank you,” Lorenzo said softly. “I’ll be forever in your debt.”

“Nonsense.” Vincent crossed his arms. “Andromeda is one of us. Back then Magnus wanted to help a Shadowhunter. Now, it’s one of ours that’s under threat. And a child, even. Baal is not going to get her filthy hands on that girl as long as I have a scrap of magic left to fight her.”

Lorenzo struggled for something to say, but Vincent beat him to it and now addressed the other warlocks.

“Obviously, no one can force any of you to face Baal. But those of you who want to help can stay so we can plan. The rest, stay safe and be careful.”

“I don’t know what to say,” Lorenzo said, shaking his head.

“Don’t have to say anything,” Vincent replied. “I’m not after your position, if that’s what you’re thinking.” He winked.

Lorenzo looked up at the tall warlock, who flicked his horse ears that peeked out of the mass of reddish-blonde hair. Then he swished his tail, despite or maybe just because he knew how Lorenzo hated it when he got horse hair on his furniture.

“Believe me, I really want to help that little girl. There’s a reason I work with children for a living. A mundane living, that is.” His smile widened, and his eyes twinkled in mirth. “And as a party clown in my spare time. It’s amazing, really, how much parents bend over backwards trying to explain things with invisible ropes and stuff when the kids are convinced it’s magic.” He chuckled. “They’re right, of course.”

“Can we just...” Lorenzo lifted both hands.

“Yeah, back to business. Do we have a deal?” Vincent held out one of his hands to Lorenzo.

“A deal?”

“We forget about the incident in Florence, and pretend the debacle in Copenhagen never happened, and stand side by side to save your daughter.”

“I don’t think I’m in a position to refuse,” Lorenzo replied drily and took the offered hand.

“Splendid!” Vincent squeezed Lorenzo’s hand to mush with a broad grin. “Then let’s go and save your little princess!”

The remaining nine warlocks now sat down together, and after summoning his notes from last night, Lorenzo went over the possibilities they had, over wards and sigils and summoning and banishing of one of the most powerful greater demons. Powerful enough to rule over her own demonic realm. But they didn’t have all the information they needed, and Lorenzo knew that he had no choice but to finish that horrible book to find the answers to the questions they still had.

It was already late afternoon when they were done with talking things through, and by that time Lorenzo had been on his feet for more than thirty-six hours. He still had one more thing to deal with, and as the other warlocks were portalling out, Lorenzo took another deep breath.

“Greta,” he said. “A word?”

She lowered her arm again and nodded.

“See, I know what...” Lorenzo cleared his throat and waited until the last portal had closed. “I know what you did, and I am grateful for your generosity. But I also don’t want you to be taken advantage of, by my daughter’s puppy eyes and heartbreaking tears.”

“I feel like I should have expected this.” Greta crossed her arms.

Lorenzo shook his head with a smile. “I don’t think you do. I just want you to be properly compensated. A bottle of saffron jinn essence that size is worth more than a hundred odd dollars.”

Greta frowned at him for a moment, but then her expression softened. “Look, no one forced me to sell it for that amount, right? I set the price and she paid it.”

“You know what I mean,” Lorenzo replied.

“Aye, I know perfectly well what you mean. And I appreciate it. But you know what?” She tilted her head and shrugged. “By now saffron jinn essence is so rare that I don’t think any price can reflect that anymore. So I figured I’d sell it to someone who really needs it. I don’t need or want three estates in Kenya and Brazil and Thailand, or a mountain of rubies, or... whatever. But now I made a little girl and her daddy happy again, helped teach your lovely little fire tornado of a daughter a lesson, and you can make your restoration potion. And everyone is happy.” But then she smiled, a slightly unsettling smile due to her pointy canines. “Maybe having a High Warlock owe you a favour isn’t a bad thing either.”

“More than a favour, Greta.” Lorenzo smiled and shook his head. “I am in your debt.”

“Duly noted,” she replied with a wink. “Take care of that little tornado, and let me know if you need anything.”

“I will, Greta. Thank you.”

She nodded and portalled out as well, and for a moment, Lorenzo remained where he stood, eyes closed and shoulders slumping. He really had only meant to issue a warning, and had been caught completely unawares by the willingness of those warlocks to help. And if that meant he owed favours and debts, well, so be it. It was a small price to pay for his daughter’s safety and well-being.

* * *

Andrew and Annie were playing _tickle-or-trap_ when Lorenzo portalled home, and he watched the two with a smile before making himself a coffee. The game was as simple as it was entertaining for the both of them; a little stroke of genius Andrew had come up with on a boring, rainy afternoon when neither Lorenzo nor Maryse had been available.

It consisted of the simple means of Andrew sitting on the sofa, and Annie running across the room and launching herself at him yelling either _tickle_ or _trap_. Then Andrew either clamped his arms around her to hold her down so she had to wriggle free somehow, or tickled her so hard she screeched.

It was astonishing, really, how much of a childish sense of humour that Shadowhunter had, and how playful a mind, who as all of his kind had been denied a proper childhood. Or maybe he was just catching up vicariously on all those things he missed out on as a boy.

Leaning into the doorframe Lorenzo watched the two as he was sipping his coffee, and was again surprised that neither of the two would tire of this game. Andrew had seen him by now and flashed him a bright-eyed grin, but had obviously no intention of ending this game anytime soon. So Lorenzo left them to it and took care of dinner instead. He needed another boost of his potion to get him through the evening, and by the time Annie was in bed, he was ready to fall asleep on his feet.

Andrew tucked him in and for once Lorenzo was too beat to protest, and he was out like a light the moment his head touched the pillow.

* * *

Andrew, Lorenzo, and Maryse spent most of the next day with secret party preparations. Annie was in the park with Madzie and Simon, as they had figured out that a daylighter was the best possible bodyguard she could have. At the slightest sign of danger he could grab her and use his vamp speed and strength to get her to the Institute and safety while Madzie portalled out. She had somehow developed a special knack for portalling; she could cast and use a portal so fast it was like she was just teleporting away, but it worked only for herself. If anyone else needed portalling, she needed to cast a regular one. She had wanted to help too, and at sixteen she was mature enough to actually be able to help in this situation. So the two were the most logical choice if Annie was not to be locked up while still be protected as best as possible. And after all, the real threat wouldn’t begin before sunrise on Annie’s birthday, the next morning.

The book still sat in Lorenzo’s study, locked in the box, and the door locked with key and magic, but it was at the back of his mind like the faint buzzing of a mosquito in the bedroom at night. It was horribly distracting, but he wasn’t the only one worried about the next day.

The only one who wasn’t worried was Annie, who was just a giggly and excited the little girl when Simon and Madzie took her home, playing _one-two-three-wee!_ with her while she laughed so bright and happy it warmed everyone’s heart. She gave both Simon and Madzie a hug before the latter two left via Madzie’s portal.

Then she launched herself at Andrew. “There were ducks running around!” she chattered excitedly, her hair all over the place. “And then there was a jogger, and his dog, it was yellow, and had a pink collar, so it was a girl dog, right? And the dog started chasing the ducks, but the ducks didn’t fly, they just ran, and they looked so silly!” She giggled and wiggled her butt like a walking duck. “And then the jogger tried to catch his dog because she wasn’t on a leash, so the dog was chasing ducks and the jogger was chasing the dog! Everyone was chasing each other!”

“Sounds like a real fun day,” Andrew said, smiling brightly. “I hope you’re really tired now so you can fall asleep soon.”

“Why?” Annie crossed her arms. “I don’t wanna go to bed yet!”

“It’s not bedtime yet, silly!” Andrew chuckled. “But the sooner you fall asleep, the sooner it’s tomorrow.”

“What’s for dinner?” Annie asked as she skipped inside next to him.

“Hmmm.” Andrew tapped his chin. “Broccoli soup, and kale fritters, and cabbage rissoles.”

“Eeewwwghh....” Annie looked up at him in horror. “No!”

“Why? It’s healthy!”

“It’s yuck! I don’t like cabbage!”

“Oh, tough.” Andrew shook his head. “I guess then you’ll have to eat...”

“Banana bread?”

Andrew looked down on her and slowly raised his eyebrows.

“Pasta?” she asked as they entered the kitchen.

“Better. Papá has made-”

“LASAGNE!” Annie screeched in a frequency that made dogs whine and Lorenzo, who hadn’t heard them coming, almost jumped out of his own skin and dropped the spatula. Annie erupted into a fit of giggles and Andrew covered his mouth and chin with his hand, taking a few deep breaths through his nose.

Lorenzo retrieved the spatula with a deep, forceful huff. “When you’re two are finished laughing at me, go wash up.”

“We’re not laughing at you, Papá!” Annie gave him her fiercest hug. “But you made a funny face!”

“Well.” Lorenzo ran his fingers through her hair to sort it back. “Wash your hands and come get some lasagne.”

“Si, Papá!” And she thundered up the stairs in a flurry of pink dress and golden curls.

Her fathers watched her and exchanged a more than slightly worried look.

“I’m spending the night at the Institute to get the last security measures into place,” Andrew said in a low voice. “I’ll be back with first light, and then we’re trying to have a normal party as far as possible with the special team from Idris patrolling the perimeter around the house. They’ll be arriving shortly after midnight, to be safe.”

Lorenzo nodded. “Let’s hope it’s enough.”

“You’ll be with her the whole time. As soon as there’s a sign of her, you two portal to the Institute. She can’t invade there, so we can take her on, and then take her out.”

“Hopefully.” Lorenzo shook his head. “She’s powerful.”

“She’s threatening my family,” Andrew said. And suddenly the silly, funny daddy was gone, replaced by a fierce warrior with dark, glowing eyes, every muscle tense under his rune-covered skin. “I won’t leave her alive.”

“Andrew, you can’t just kill a greater demon.”

“Watch me,” Andrew replied, his face unmoving. “I’ll find a way. Annie is not going to live her life afraid of her. Not going to happen.”

Before Lorenzo could say anything else Annie came running down the stairs again, and the two put on the best smiles they could muster. Luckily, Annie remained oblivious, and she was happily chattering through the meal and bedtime, even while brushing her teeth, about her birthday party and the balloons and everything else coming to her mind. They had a hard time getting her to calm down.

Once she was asleep Lorenzo portalled Andrew to the Institute, and not long after that, a dozen black-clad Shadowhunters armed to the teeth reported in and spread out around the mansion’s garden.

Still, Lorenzo was hardly able to close an eye that night, and every little sound tore him out of his shallow dozing. He got up with the first grey of dawn, and headed to the kitchen yawning so hard his chin was about to fall off.

It was when he entered the kitchen that he noticed the smell. A strange, cold smell, like the stones from the bottom of a river, and slightly metallic. His heart began to race and he quickly left the kitchen again and reached for his wards.

They were gone.

The heaviest wards imaginable, conjured and primed by two powerful warlocks, were gone without a trace. And Lorenzo hadn’t felt a single thing, not the slightest tug.

“Oh my god...” It was a horrified, choked-out whisper.

Because upstairs, Annie was laughing.


	7. Chapter 7

Feeling as if he had swallowed a bucket full of rocks Lorenzo readied his magic, but at that moment the door of Annie’s room opened. Still wearing her yellow sunflower night dress Annie emerged, holding the hand of...

“Annie,” Lorenzo said, trying to keep his voice calm. “Let go and come down here. That is not Maryse.”

Annie looked at him in utter confusion, and up at Maryse, and back at him. Maryse picked her up, and Lorenzo had to grit his teeth. He couldn’t attack the demon like that, of course she knew that perfectly well, and not taking her eyes of him she slowly walked down the stairs, Annie on her hip. Once at the bottom of the stairs she put Annie down, but stood close to her with one hand on her head. 

“Annie,” Lorenzo said again, more firmly this time. “That is not Maryse. It’s a glamoured demon. Come here.”

After blinking slowly Annie looked up again at Maryse who was smiling ever so sweetly. And now Lorenzo realised the one big flaw in their plan: Keeping Annie in the dark so she wouldn’t get scared. Because now... now she wasn’t scared. Annie, who had never experienced anything worse than her fathers being angry with her because of childish mischief, and had never experienced anything scarier than a spider in the bathroom, was so full of trust, and the belief that the world was a good place. She had no idea about the cruelty and the capacity for evil of greater demons. She didn’t question Maryse being here at the crack of dawn to wake her up on her birthday, either. Why would she?

“But she can talk,” Annie said in a small voice, clearly confused, but clearly not frightened yet either. “And she knew it’s my birthday.”

“I know.” Lorenzo took a deep breath. “I know, because she is a greater demon. She needs your trust so she can take you away.”

Annie looked up at what seemed to be Maryse, and the woman now ran her hand through Annie’s curls with a soft, somehow sad smile.

“I’m afraid the warlock is right. But you don’t have to be afraid of me. You know why?”

“Annie, don’t listen to her!”

Baal changed the glamour, and now looked like a woman in her mid thirties, with blonde, wavy hair, and blue eyes with smile wrinkles. Beautiful, and without a doubt Annie’s mother, from the looks of it. 

“I’m your mother, Annie.” She went into a crouch, on one knee, and took Annie’s hands. “They took you away from me and I have tried to get you back. I missed you so much, my sweet little one.”

Annie looked at her, eyes wide and lips parted. It was obvious that she was so innocently naive that she couldn’t imagine someone so pretty could be evil, so she still wasn’t scared yet.

“Annie, get away from her.” Lorenzo summoned his magic again, but couldn’t attack because Baal was still touching her. 

Now Baal looked at Lorenzo, and slowly got up, but without letting go of Annie’s hand. Lorenzo kept his eyes on her, but when he cast a quick glance at Annie he could see her eyes were slightly unfocussed. 

Baal was already in her head. 

“Let go of her,” Lorenzo said, voice flat with both fury and a trace of fear.

“Or else?” Baal tilted her head. “You’re going to kill a little girl’s mother before her very eyes?”

“You are not her mother,” Lorenzo snarled.

“Excuse me?” Baal took a smell step forward. “You have no idea what I went through to have this baby, and how it broke my heart, a hundred times each day ever since she was born, that she wasn’t in my arms!”

“You sold her to those warlocks to be used as a spell ingredient!”

“They forced me to do it! I didn’t have a choice! But she is my daughter, and now I can finally take her home!”

“She isn’t yours to take!”

“And she isn’t yours to keep, warlock.”

“She is my daughter.” Lorenzo took a deep breath, magic dancing around his hands. 

“Oh, is she.” Baal looked at Annie, and gentle fingers toyed with a few wayward strands of her hair. “But you’re not the one who was my vessel when she was conceived.”

“I am not, but I-”

“Then how can she be your daughter?” Baal looked back and forth from Annie to Lorenzo. “Because you took her into your house to use her magic for yourself?”

“I am not using her magic!” Lorenzo was trying to keep his breathing calm, with no success. “Annie, you know I’m not using your magic for myself!”

“But is she allowed to use hers by herself?” Baal asked, and looked at Annie. “Are you?”

Annie shook her head. 

“Annie,” Lorenzo began, his heart hammering in his chest. “It’s because your magic is so powerful! You can’t control it yet!”

“Because you didn’t teach her properly,” Baal replied smugly. “And as long as you have control over her magic she won’t ever be able to handle it on her own.”

“You have no idea how to raise a warlock child, demon!”

“And you have?” Baal gave him a smirk. “How many warlock children have you raised so far?”

Lorenzo failed to think of an answer fast enough. 

“See, little one?” Baal said to Annie. “You’re too powerful for this world. They can’t handle you, and they won’t let you be able to handle yourself.”

Annie looked up at her, swallowing hard. Her eyes began to glisten.

“Annie, don’t listen to her!” Lorenzo took a small step forward, but then Baal thrust a finger out at him, and he couldn’t move any more.

“Every warlock wants more power, sweet one,” Baal said to her, brushing Annie’s hair back. “And they are going to take it wherever they can.”

“But he’s my Papá,” Annie whispered, tears welling up in her eyes.

“No, he’s not.” Baal shook her head and rested a hand on her cheek. “He calls himself that, but he’s not your father, and neither is that Shadowhunter. The warlock only keeps you for your magic, because if he really wanted to raise you as a warlock he’d have taught you how to use your magic, wouldn’t he?” She looked up at Lorenzo, and lowered her hand. 

And Lorenzo, who was desperately trying to fight her magic, suddenly found he couldn’t speak anymore, either. His blood turned to ice in his veins as he struggled against the enchantment, but the magic was too strong.

“But Daddy doesn’t use magic,” Annie said in a tiny voice, a tear trickling down her cheek.

“No, but he’s a Shadowhunter, my love.” Baal brushed the tear away. “He hunts demons. Now you’re a cute little girl, but once you’re grown you’ll be a powerful warlock, more powerful than anyone. A powerful warlock, with powerful demon blood. A Shadowhunter can’t love someone with demon blood.”

“But he loves Papá,” Annie replied, voice shaking, and a sob caught in her throat. “They are married to each other!”

“Yes, they are. But my love...” Baal sighed. “Wouldn’t you want to be married to someone who can magic up the food and clean it up again, and magic the house clean, and take you to holiday trips all over the world, with the snap of a finger? He can have anything he wants, and the warlock only needs to snap his fingers. Anyone would be stupid to say no to that if offered such a chance.”

Annie stared at Lorenzo now, so forlorn and hurt, with tears running down her cheeks, and it shattered his heart to see her like that. But he couldn’t move, he couldn’t speak, he couldn’t even shake his head.

“You’d think that he would try to defend himself by now, right? Tried to make you believe I’m wrong.” Baal sighed again. “But I can smell lies, little one. I can taste them. So he doesn’t say anything because he can’t lie.”

Annie sobbed again, staring at Lorenzo with a trembling lower lip. And Lorenzo tried again, strained against the magic holding him with all his strength and power, but he didn’t manage more than a miniscule shake of his head, and he wasn’t sure Annie had even seen it. 

Annie dropped her plushie, the little elephant that had been her faithful friend and sleeping companion since she had been three weeks old. It landed at her feet as she was staring at Lorenzo, heavy sobs shaking her whole body. 

“I am so sorry, sweetheart,” Baal said and stepped to her side. She put an arm around her and pulled her close. “I’m so sorry they lied to you.” Then she looked up at Lorenzo, into his eyes, and the smirk on her face told him that she knew she had won. “And now let her magic go. It’s not yours to keep either.”

Annie peeled her face out of Baal’s cheerfully white, red, and orange striped blouse and stared at him in silent despair. 

“I said, release her magic.”

Even if Lorenzo had wanted to, he couldn’t, because he was paralysed. And her smile was so unbearable smug and evil as she lifted her hand now it was almost impossible to watch. But with being paralysed, he didn’t have a choice. 

“Sweetheart, I’m sorry I have to do this,” Baal said softly. “He won’t let you go, so I have to break you free. I think that will hurt, but it will be over real quick, okay?”

Sobbing even harder now, Annie pressed her face into the folds of Baal’s clothing again, and Baal buried her fingers into her hair. Then she lifted her other hand, rested it on Annie’s back, and pulled it away again, with a sweeping gesture towards Lorenzo, palm shooting forward. 

Annie screamed at top of her lungs, and Lorenzo was thrown backwards into the wall with a dull crack. Baal spun around and quickly drew a sigil into the air that made dark, grey patch of nothingness appear before her, and pulled Annie into it before she could turn around to look back again. 

The rift snapped shut, and Lorenzo slowly sank down the wall, his head leaving a red smear behind as he crumpled into a heap. 

Moments later the door was kicked in, and Andrew came running across the hallway. 

“Annie! Lorenzo!” He stopped in the doorway, his face white as a sheet when he spotted Lorenzo. “LORENZO!” He raced across the room and fell onto his knees, eyes wide in horror as he stared at the blood smears on the wall.

Behind him the others now spilled through the doorway; they had meant to portal in, but had emerged outside with no means of opening doors, windows, or portals. Everything had been locked behind a shield that had collapsed the moment Baal had left. 

Catarina was at Lorenzo’s side in an instant, and poured magic into his body without a second’s hesitation. 

“Will he be okay?” Andrew asked in a trembling voice. 

“Fractured skull, fractured ribs, internal injuries, but we got here in time.” Catarina carefully took Lorenzo’s shoulders to straighten him, while Andrew stared at him in horror. 

“We did, and then we didn’t,” Magnus said, going down onto one knee next to the grey spot on the carpet. It was perfectly circular, the colour drained out of the carpet as if someone had poured bleach onto it. 

“Baal.” Alec looked around, lips pressed together.

“I’m afraid so.” Magnus got up again. 

“But how could she get past those wards?” Alec asked him. “You said they were stronger than anything you’d ever done before!”

“Apparently Baal is stronger than we thought,” Magnus gave back darkly. 

Now Isabelle entered the house as well, looking pale and grim. “They’re all dead.”

“All of them?” Alec asked, his voice rough. “All fourteen?”

“All of them, Alec. I’m sorry.” Isabelle looked around, shaking her head. “They’re not even injured. They just... dropped dead, apparently.”

Lorenzo groaned, and Andrew rested his hand on his chest. “Lorenzo...”

“Baal...” Lorenzo pressed out. “She...”

“We know,” Andrew said through gritted teeth. “She cast a shield and we couldn’t get in. I couldn’t even call you.”

“I couldn’t...” Lorenzo opened his eyes. “I couldn’t stop her...” His voice broke. “I couldn’t stop her...” Tears broke free from his eyes. “I wasn’t strong enough... I’m sorry...”

“No one is,” Andrew said gently, and took one of Lorenzo’s hands between his own. “She’s more powerful than any of us thought.”

Lorenzo looked at his hands, and a moment later, his magic appeared, but it looked... frazzled. A few sparks flew from his hand completely uncontrolled, and he winced. 

“What happened?” Magnus asked as he saw that, and sank to his knees next to Lorenzo, staring at the fizzling magic.

“I don’t...” Lorenzo swallowed. “She tore my magic out of Annie’s with a force that threw me against the wall. It... It hurt and I... I heard her scream...” He closed his eyes, unable to stop the tears. “She hurt her and I could do nothing...”

“And she obviously damaged your magic somehow,” Magnus said, and picked up a small handful of golden light.

“As if that matters...” Lorenzo stared up at him, and then closed his eyes again. “Even if she’d taken it all it wouldn’t make a difference.”

Magnus pressed his lips together and shook his head, but Lorenzo didn’t see that. He got up again and walked to Alec’s side. 

“I’m so sorry...” After another moment Lorenzo opened his eyes to look at Andrew. “I couldn’t stop her,” he whispered again and tried to sit up, and Andrew put his arms around his shoulders to help him sit. “I couldn’t...”

“I know,” Andrew said. “But at least she left you alive.”

Lorenzo looked up at him now. “I would have-”

“Yes, of course.” Andrew met his eyes. “As would I. We both would have put down our lives to protect her, but that wasn’t an option. But you’re still alive, so now we have the chance to fight, together, to get her back.”

“She didn’t even have to force her,” Lorenzo said slowly, his voice breaking. “Baal got into her head, and made her believe that you only tolerated her because of her age, and that I only kept her around to use her magic, like the warlocks who made her.” He looked up at Andrew who had tears in his eyes now as well. “She went with her, believing ... that we don’t love her. That we never did.”

Andrew shook his head, lips parted in shock, but had no idea what to say. He took a deep breath and swallowed audibly, and looked at the spot where she had vanished. They leaned their heads together, touching at the temples, and stared at the small plush elephant lying forlorn and abandoned on the floor, next to a patch of carpet that had lost all colour.


	8. Chapter 8

After Andrew had helped Lorenzo settle on the nearest sofa he sat down next to him, taking his hand. Lorenzo was eaten up alive by guilt, blaming himself for Annie’s disappearance. None of the books had...

A bitter little chuckle forced itself past it lips. It sounded a little too shrill to be comfortable with, skirting too close to the edge of going mad.

“Lorenzo?” Andrew asked hesitantly.

Lorenzo shook his head and buried his face in his hands. “I am a bloody fool,” he said. “Those books, making me believe Baal wasn’t as strong as she is...”

“But... they didn’t know? Did any of those people ever meet her?”

“They didn’t want to know.” Lorenzo dropped his hands and looked at him again. “Those books were written by men, in a time when female warlocks were burned at the stake as witches. They were written during a time when it was common knowledge that women were weak, stupid, unable to take care of their own lives without a man. None of these warlocks was able to imagine that a female demon could be so powerful. And I fell right for it.”

Andrew stared at him for a moment in silence, and then looked up at the others, particularly at the warlocks who had accompanied the Shadowhunters.

“What are we going to do now?” he asked.

Catarina shook her head with a sigh. “We know Baal rules over her own realm. So we have to find out how to get there.”

“And fight a greater demon in her own realm?” Vincent asked, crossing his arms. “That doesn’t sound promising.”

“We killed Lillith in Edom,” Isabelle said, crossing her arms as well.

“Yes, but we had the heavenly fire,” Magnus replied. “We don’t have that anymore.”

Isabelle looked at the floor, shaking her head.

“We’ll find a way,” Alec said firmly. “Every greater demon has a weak spot. We need to find it, and use it against her.”

The warlocks exchanged various glances between themselves. Eventually, Greta broke the silence. “Lorenzo, do you still have the tome of Egregios?”

Lorenzo looked up from his hands that were surrounded by irregular, fizzling light, and extinguished the magic again with another wince. Then he nodded and slowly, forced himself onto his feet. “I haven’t gotten very far; I swear the script was resisting my brain.”

“It would,” Greta said. “From what we know, few were so far able to master it. And I don’t think anyone ever managed to read the whole thing.”

Lorenzo nodded and straightened his jacket. “Then I will be the first,” he said flatly, without a trace of emotion in his voice.

“Lorenzo, don’t be a fool.” Vincent took a step closer. “That book can drive anyone to madness who tries to wrangle the secrets from its pages.”

“This isn’t about me seeking power,” Lorenzo replied. “It’s about the life and soul of my daughter. I will finish that book and get the answers we need. Anything else is not an option.”

“Could...” Andrew looked hesitantly back and forth between the other warlocks and Lorenzo. “Could any of you maybe help with that?”

“We sure could,” Vincent replied after a moment, “if we share it between a few of us we could-”

“None of you is going to risk your sanity dealing with that book,” Lorenzo cut in.

“Lorenzo, now you _are_ being a fool,” Catarina said, shaking her head.

“Am I?” Lorenzo looked at her. “Or isn’t it better if only one of us risks himself so the others can remain unaffected and able to do what must be done?”

Catarina exchanged an uncomfortable look with Vincent, but neither of them said anything else.

Gritting his teeth, Andrew looked back and forth between the warlocks, a deep frown on his face. He quite obviously and understandably wasn’t happy about Lorenzo’s decision either, but as a Shadowhunter, had no alternatives or even assistance to offer.

They parted ways shortly after that; the warlocks back to their homes, with promises of doing their own research, the Shadowhunters back to the Institute. Luke, Magnus and Alec were now left with the grim task of bringing the bodies of fourteen Shadowhunters back home to Idris, and relate the horrible news to their families.

Maryse on the other hand stayed, as well as Catarina, as support for the two men who had just all but lost their daughter to a greater demon. She made food and badgered the two into eating a bit, and she and Andrew kept supplying Lorenzo with coffee while the latter faced the book again in grim, iron-hard determination.

Sometimes if felt as if the very letters in the book were alive, and that those letters were trying to get into his mind, spelling out songs of blood, of power, and of madness. But Lorenzo was not looking for power. He was looking for a way to save his daughter, and he kept pushing those thoughts aside with a furious stubbornness that had gotten him through many of life’s perils so far.

Aided by adding a highly dubious amount of a magic tonic to his coffee to keep himself awake, Lorenzo worked through the horrible tome that day and the following night. Luckily the book contained a lot of drawings and diagrams, and lists of ingredients for spells and potions Lorenzo would never need. At one point the lures of the spells had lessened, as if the book had realised Lorenzo couldn’t be swayed, but it had never ceased completely.

And maybe Lorenzo would have succumbed to them as well at one point, like everyone else before him, but every time he felt his mind drift, he looked up, at the window, and the small plush elephant sitting on the windowsill where Andrew had put it after Lorenzo’s request. And that gave him enough resolve to push on, and push through.

Once he was finally done he locked the book up in the box again, and thoroughly disintegrated the gloves and the cup he had used, and the tablecloth the book had rested on. He didn’t want a trace of that thing in his house, no matter how faint. Then he copied the notes he made with a wave of magic, and destroyed the original too, together with the pencil.

After purging everything that had been in contact with the book he immediately opened a portal to the Spiral Labyrinth to return it, as he didn’t want this thing here for a moment longer than absolutely necessary. And once he was home again he was ready to pass out from sheer exhaustion, plagued by a headache that made his vision blur around the edges.

He didn’t want to take a break however, still driven by fear and guilt, and first when Andrew threatened to tie him down somewhere, stele already in hand, had he sat down to take a few breaths. Just to close his eyes, just for a moment. Rest his eyes, and his brain, for five minutes.

When Lorenzo jerked upright again from unpleasant dreams he couldn’t remember he was not only covered with a blanket, but it was also dark outside. Andrew had let him sleep the whole day, and Lorenzo shot out of the sofa, furious beyond words.

“Hey,” Andrew said, entering the living room with a cup. “I was just about to-”

“How dare you!” Lorenzo yelled at him. “How can you let me sleep the whole day when Annie is in the clutches of that monster and needs us!”

“Lo-”

“How could you!” he barked. “Every minute we waste is a minute longer that she is under her spell! At one point we won’t be able to bring her back anymore, and you let me snore away precious time on the sofa!”

“Give me a break!” Andrew shouted back. “You passed out the moment you closed your eyes, and when I wanted to wake you up Catarina told me not to touch you!” He slammed the cup down onto the sideboard so forcefully that the coffee spilled over and dripped down over the edge. “Do you think me just sitting here with my thumbs up my ass isn’t bothering me? Is that really what you’re thinking?”

The two stared at each other for a silent moment before Lorenzo swallowed and dropped his head.

“I’m...” His shoulders started to shake, but Andrew crossed the room in four large strides, and by the time Lorenzo broke he had his arms around him. And Lorenzo could do nothing, couldn’t hold on to even a shred of strength and dignity, and went completely to pieces. Andrew held on to him, his body and his arms keeping Lorenzo upright and grounded until he could put himself together again, at least a little bit.

“Hey,” Andrew whispered. “I’m sorry, it’s okay.”

“Nothing is okay,” Lorenzo whispered into his shoulder. “I couldn’t...”

“I know.” Andrew closed his arms tighter around him. “I mean I’m not mad at you. But also... a man a lot smarter than I am told me a few years ago, when Annie was stolen by those warlocks, that me harming myself is not going to help anyone, least of all her.”

Lorenzo huffed out a mirthless chuckle. “And you’re telling me I should follow my own advice.”

“It seemed to make sense at the time,” Andrew replied and dropped a kiss into his hair. “Come on. I know you don’t feel like it, but have a bite to eat. I mean, Catarina and Maryse are a force to be reckoned with, and made me eat though I wasn’t hungry. And take a nap, for that matter, though I couldn’t really sleep because I’ve been overusing my stamina rune last night, and... you know why. This is driving me mad, too I’ve been running around between all screens and dug through days' worth of drone footage to see if we missed something.”

“There was nothing you could have done, Andrew.”

Andrew looked up with a shrug.

Lorenzo took one of his hand, and they entwined their fingers. “So when are you going to collapse?” he asked drily, leaning back.

Andrew shrugged. “Probably any moment now. So we better get some food and sleep, because right now we’re not going to be of use for anything.”

“I find myself unable to digress,” Lorenzo replied, shaking his head, and let Andrew take his hand and lead him to the kitchen where Maryse and Catarina were debating something in low voices.

It was obvious that Maryse had been crying too, but even without runes she was a warrior, and could force herself to run on willpower alone. Catarina as an ER nurse was used to keep a clear head in any given stressful situation, and even if she was clearly affected by those events, she was functioning a lot better than Andrew and Lorenzo at that point.

The two women ushered them into the bedroom after eating some stew, but Lorenzo insisted on sending fire messages to the warlocks to schedule a meeting the next morning.

“I can do that,” Catarina said. “Go and lie down before you keel over.”

Lorenzo took a deep breath, ready for another butting of heads, but then Andrew put a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to look at him, and now saw the lines carved into his face, the shadows under his eyes, and how fogged over they were with exhaustion, mental and physical.

“Before you say anything,” Andrew began, his voice husky, “you don’t look any better. We can’t do anything in the state we’re in.”

Lorenzo finally caved in and followed him to the bedroom. Despite their exhaustion they didn’t fall asleep for a while yet, and clinging to each other they kept assuring each other that they would get Annie back and that it would all be okay.

* * *

Everything was grey. Light grey, dark grey, grey so dark it was almost black. There was no colour here whatsoever. Also, it was cold. It was so cold, and she was freezing so hard her teeth rattled.

But Baal had told her she would get used to it. That she would stop freezing, and never feel cold again. She hadn’t told her when, though. So now she was sitting on her bed, boring grey on boring grey, wrapped in a grey blanket, looking out of a window that had bars, into a landscape that was grey plains and grey rocks and dead, grey trees.

She wanted to go home.

And then, with burning, blurring eyes, she remembered that she didn’t have a home anymore.

_This is your home now,_ Baal had said.

Baal was grey here too. She wasn’t pretty anymore either. Also she had too many arms, and that looked freaky and scary, and she had huge bat wings which would have been cool if those arms hadn’t been so scary.

And then there were the black things. They were huge, and shiny like beetles, and had four arms too, and something like bat wings, only it weren’t wings but just two long bony limbs that looked like feelers but had pointy ends. They didn’t have a face at all, just a gap for a mouth filled with thousands of pointy teeth. They scared her even move than Baal’s too many arms, although Baal had told her she didn’t have to be afraid of them because they knew their place.

_They are your brothers,_ Baal had said. _My children too, but only you are perfect. I needed the help of warlocks and a mortal woman to have you. And now you are home, with me._

She didn’t want to be at home here. But she didn’t have another home anymore. Only this huge grey stone palace with her grey room with grey books that she couldn’t read and brothers that were monster that scared her even if they acted like dogs and ducked and bowed when they saw her.

She wanted to go home. Even if she didn’t have a home anymore. Maybe she could find a new one if Papá and Daddy didn’t want her anymore. The thought brought tears to her eyes, and she couldn’t suppress a sob, and wiping her hand across her nose she slid off the bed and wrapped herself into her blanket.

The brother demons allowed her to leave her room, but two of them followed her. Then she realised she didn’t know where to go. Mustering all her courage she looked at the closest brother demon and took a deep, shaky breath.

“Can you show me where Baal is?” And then, because Papá and Daddy had taught her that she should always be polite at first, she added, “Please?”

The brother demon tilted his head, and then set off into the opposite direction. Not knowing what else to do she followed him, but he led her to a huge room with a throne, and there she was.

“My sweetheart!” She got up and smiled. “You are awake!”

“I want to go home,” she said.

Baal scoffed. “This is your home.”

“I don’t like it here,” she said. “I want to go back.”

“Back to where? To whom?” Baal left her throne. “They can’t use you anymore, they don’t want you anymore.”

She wiped the tears from her face, and wiped her nose again. “Uncle Magnus can help me find new dads.”

“Why would he do that?” Baal crossed her arms. It looked even scarier like that. Two crossed arms, two arms hanging down. “No warlock will ever want to have anything to do with you, ever again. Because you have been here, with me, you’re marked, and they will say you are tainted and ruined, and they will hunt you and want to kill you.”

She stared at her, sobs burning in her throat, shaking her head. It wasn’t true. It wasn’t true... Uncle Magnus liked her. And Uncle Alec. They would find new dads for her.

She shook her head again.

“You can go back, but you have to grow first, become strong and powerful. Then you can go back, and no one can hurt you anymore.”

“I don’t like it here,” she whispered. Her head felt funny.

“You will, in time. Go to your room and eat.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Do as I say.”

Sobbing, she turned around, and the two brother demons brought her to her room, but it was clear they were watching her so she couldn’t run away, which was stupid, because where would she run? She’d get lost and starve and freeze to death.

In her room was a bowl with what looked like cereals. She wasn’t hungry, but Baal had told her to eat, and maybe if she would eat, her head wouldn’t feel so funny anymore. The brother demons stayed outside, like watch dogs next to her door. She tried a spoon full of the strange cereals, and they tasted like dust and stones. Putting the spoon down, she took a step back, and another, and fell onto her bed.

She wanted to go home.

Now she was crying again, but Baal wasn’t here to tell her to stop, and she curled up under the grey blanket and cried and cried and cried until she had cried herself to sleep.

When she woke up her night dress was no longer yellow, but grey too. It was scarier than the brother demons to see that.

“Someone come and help me,” she sobbed. “Please, I want to go home.”

But she knew that no one would ever come for her.


	9. Chapter 9

Andrew was watching Lorenzo with crossed arms and tight lips, as the latter gathered his notes, about to leave for Brooklyn to meet with the other warlocks.

Lorenzo realised that and looked up, a questioning frown on his face.

“Nothing.” Andrew shook his head. “I’m just... frustrated, I guess. Annoyed. Now I have to sit around here with my thumbs up my ass, again, waiting for the warlocks to save the day. Again.”

Lorenzo smiled weakly as he shook his head. “I don’t think we will be saving the day alone, Andrew. Once we manage to get a gateway open, you are very welcome to arm yourself to the teeth and accompany me to get her back.”

“Good. I hate feeling useless.”

“You never are,” Lorenzo said and stepped closer. He took Andrew’s hand and gently squeezed his fingers. “You can’t help right now, but you can do your part later, Shadowhunter.”

Andrew nodded with a small smile of his own. “Then do your job, warlock, so I can do mine.”

After another squeeze of his hand Lorenzo let go, and cast a portal. One last nod to Andrew, and he and Catarina stepped inside, and into his apartment in Brooklyn. Greta was the next to appear, and within ten minutes they were complete, nine warlocks who were ready to engage Baal to save a warlock child. Magnus was one of those of course; nothing, especially not something as trivial as time zones, could stop him from saving his god daughter. 

Lorenzo felt all eyes on him as he produced his notes, and looked around. 

“Yes, I did,” he said. “And no, it wasn’t easy, but it’s amazing how well a plush animal works as a focus.” He cleared his throat. “Be that as it may, I have the information we need. The ritual to open the rift requires-”

“Hang on, a rift?” Magnus tilted his head. “Not a portal?”

“The barrier is too strong for a portal,” Lorenzo replied. “It has to be a rift. That’s why we need most of you to cast a shield around the rift, so that whatever might get out doesn’t get far.”

“Carry on then,” Magnus replied. “We knew from the beginning this will get dangerous.”

Lorenzo nodded and they all settled down around the large table. Lorenzo conjured up some tea and coffee, and spread out the notes in front of him. Then he took a deep breath, and began to explain.

* * *

The safest location for the ritual would have been behind the angelic wards of the Institute, theoretically, but Lorenzo had no intention of getting Isabelle in trouble about this, despite her offering the Institute’s safe room in the basement. After the disaster with Baal’s appearance that had led to the death of fourteen Shadowhunters, Idris had declared the case closed, despite Alec’s and Magnus’ insistence, since Baal was gone again. Opening a rift into a demonic realm in the Institute would have caused a lot of problems.

So the next best location was the safe room in the basement of Lorenzo’s mansion. It was a room specially prepared for demon summoning, the walls infused with heavy wards, the door massive iron and infused with magic and wards as well. There were no furniture and no windows, just stone floor, stone walls, and tiled ceiling. 

But to Lorenzo’s surprise, Magnus wasn’t alone when he portalled in. He had expected Andrew, but not the others.

“Magnus is not going in there without me,” Alec said, bow in hand and quiver strapped to his shoulder.

“And Alec isn’t going anywhere without me,” Jace said and stood next to his parabatai. 

“And because someone has to watch their back,” Isabelle said and smiled brightly at him, “and because you need all the weapon power you can get, Clary and I are also coming.” 

Clary twirled one of her daggers around her wrist. “And we all want Annie back. Whatever it takes.”

Simon stepped beside her and nodded. “What she said.” Lorenzo looked at Simon in mild confusion, and he shrugged with a smile. “Figured I might come in handy. In terms of fast extraction, I’m the closest thing to an X-wing that we have.”

“A what?” 

“Nothing.” Simon pushed his hands into his pockets. “Go ahead and do your... warlock thing.”

So, despite Idris’ orders, a group of five Shadowhunters, plus a daylighter, stood now at the ready on the other side of the room, as Magnus and Lorenzo began to draw the pentagram. It was a complicated affair, requiring full concentration of the both of them while the others were watching in silence. 

To everyone’s dismay, including their own, the two warlocks needed the better part of the day, of delicate spell work and precise drawing of lines and sigils so ancient and rare that they both had to keep looking at Lorenzo’s notes, until the pentagram was finally ready and active. Five of the other warlocks now positioned themselves across the room, casting another pentagram between and above them like a dome made of magic that would act as their shield, to make sure nothing that might come out of the rift would get any further than this room. The Shadowhunters and Simon stayed inside that shield but away from the actual pentagram until the rift would open, and Catarina and Vincent were inside the shield as well to offer immediate healing magic should the need arise. 

Magnus activated his magic and looked at Lorenzo. “Ready?”

“Ready,” Lorenzo replied and snapped his fingers. He winced as his magic flashed up, a fraction too bright. 

“Are you okay?” Magnus asked, worried eyes on the irregular magic around Lorenzo’s hands that was slowly calming down.

“I will be,” Lorenzo said, and took a deep breath while rolling his shoulders. “It feels... like a bruise?”

They exchanged a look, but then Magnus shrugged, and Lorenzo shrugged as well. The two now waved their hands, drawing an oval of light at the centre of the pentagram.

* * *

Time was a funny thing down here. If it was down, and not up. Or next to. Papá had talked about realms a few times, but it had been confusing, and he had stopped again. Maybe she should have paid better attention, then maybe she would know how to get home. 

Where nobody wanted her anymore. 

She wiped her hand across her eyes, and looked at her fingers. They were pale, very pale. Maybe she would turn grey too, like everything down here. But at least today wasn’t as cold. If it was today. She had slept some, so it had to be today and not yesterday. Or still today?

Either way, she didn’t need the blanket anymore, but she wanted to ask Baal if it was tomorrow and if she could have something to eat that wasn’t cereals that tasted of dust and stones. Two brother demons followed her again, but they didn’t seem as scary as yesterday, or whenever. Before she had slept some. They were more acting like clever dogs. 

She could actually remember the way, and found Baal on her throne. She was still scary though, with her black, billowing hair, and her grey skin, and her four arms, and her batwings. There were a lot of brother demons around her, sitting there, looking at her with their eye-less faces. Really, like dogs. They were ugly, but there wasn’t any reason to be scared of them. 

“Hello, my love.” Baal smiled at her, and her grey eyes with dark grey pupils weren’t as scary anymore either. 

“I’m hungry,” she said. “But the cereal tastes like dirt. Can I have something else?”

Baal scoffed again. “You will get used to it, the same as with the temperature. You’re not freezing anymore, are you?”

She shook her head. 

“Good. You will soon be a part of this world, just as I am, just as your brothers are. You will be like me, powerful, and strong.”

“Will I get wings too?” she asked, curiosity winning over fear.

“If you want, then it can be arranged,” Baal said with a smile. “Now go eat, you need your strength when we start training your magic.”

Since she knew it would be useless to argue she went back to her room, the brother demons following her again like dogs, and sitting in front of her door like dogs. She looked at a new bowl of cereal, and wondered if she could conjure up some other food, like Papá did. But she didn’t know how. He really hadn’t taught her anything. So Baal had been right. Her head felt funny again, so she tried to eat, forced a few spoonfuls down, and sat down at the table. 

There was paper, and there were what looked like pencils, and she drew two dads and a little girl, and one of the dads had long hair. And the little girl between them had curly hair. And then she drew a few runes on the other dad too. Then she looked at the picture, and her eyes burned and her throat hurt and then she was crying again. 

Then the door opened and this time it was Baal. 

“Why are you crying?” And then she saw the drawing. “Oh.” She sat down on the bed. “You still want to go home to the warlock and the Shadowhunter?”

“I don’t like it here,” she muttered into her pillow, because she really, really didn’t like it here.

Baal sighed and shook her head.

“Maybe they can help me find new dads.” She sat up, and looked at Baal who looked so sad, even with her grey eyes. “Or Catarina can. Or Uncle Magnus.”

“I told you that no warlock will ever want to touch you again after you have been touched by my real. Look at you, my love.”

She looked at her pale arms. “Will I be grey too?”

“You already are, sweet one.” Baal ran a hand through her hair and pulled a strand down in front of her eyes. 

And really, her hair wasn’t blonde anymore, it was grey. And her skin would be grey soon too. And Daddy and Papá would hate her then. She felt more tears on her cheek, hot tears, and she wiped her eyes and nose, but they didn’t stop.

“Sweet love, you have to forget them. You don’t have a place there anymore.”

“Is everything gone?”She looked up at Baal, her eyes blurring. “Did they throw everything away?” 

Baal ran a hand through her hair, and then she understood. 

“I’m so sorry, little one,” Baal whispered. She pulled her close, and she buried into her embrace and cried and cried and didn’t understand how she could hurt that much and how she could have so many tears, but it hurt so much, and she still missed home and Daddy and Papá but they were happy without her now. 

“Sleep, little one,” Baal whispered, and gently settled her onto the bed. “Sleep and rest. You will feel better soon.”

She stared at the ceiling, grey on grey, and wished she was made of stone too.

* * *

It was obvious from the very start that opening the rift was hard work. The two warlocks strained against the fabric of the dimensions, forcing an opening where no opening should be. Sweat was beading on their foreheads, and it seemed like minutes turned to hours as they fought the tear between the dimensions open. 

“I think now I know why no one ever made it, and why the book said it’s impossible,” Magnus grunted. “They all gave up after an hour or so.”

“We don’t have that luxury,” Lorenzo gave back through gritted teeth. 

“Don’t have to remind me.” Magnus looked up. “And what...”

Lorenzo met his eyes and took a deep breath. “Magnus, how long do you think you can keep it from collapsing? I need to summon something.”

“A minute?” Magnus looked at the narrow gap. “Two, maybe?”

“That’s enough. I need a window in the shield!”

Greta and the warlock next to her nodded and both moved their strands of magic away from each other. Lorenzo let go of the portal, and now Magnus was growling in the effort of keeping the tear open. But then Lorenzo snapped his fingers, and a small black box appeared in his hand. 

“Shield up!”

The shield closed again, and Lorenzo opened a box. It contained several small vials, some filled with a red liquid, some with a golden one. Lorenzo took a golden one and slipped it into Magnus’ right trouser pocket. 

“The restoration potion,” he said, and took the red one that he slipped into Magnus’ left pocket. “And that’s an amplifier. I tried it in small doses, but it hasn’t been field tested yet.”

“Emergency use only?” Magnus asked, and Lorenzo nodded. 

Then Lorenzo slipped the vials into his own pockets and poured his magic into the opening rift again. 

It was agonizingly slow. The rift widened inch by inch, and after two hours, was still no larger than a soda can. But, to everyone’s immense relief, especially of the warlocks trying to open the rift, not long after that they seemed to have passed the critical threshold of the rift. From there on it went increasingly fast, if still far from easy. In all, they had needed several hours until the rift was big enough for a grown man to pass through, and by now it was past midnight. 

“It looks like you have to do this without me,” Lorenzo said to Andrew, shaking his head. “We both need all our strength to keep this open.”

“I can see that. We’ll get her back with or without magic backup.”

“You just need to hurry,” Lorenzo replied. “Baal’s realm absorbs anything that touches it. The transformation...” He closed his eyes for a moment. “The transformation is irreversible, once completed.”

“How long,” Andrew whispered, voice flat with horror. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because we only deciphered that this morning, when we started laying out the ritual,” Magnus fell in. “Hurry up. We don’t know how long it takes, but it’s not something instantaneous.”

“And what if the transformation is complete?” Isabelle asked, fear audible in her voice.

Lorenzo closed his eyes, and Magnus shook his head. 

“Let’s get this over with,” Jace said and unsheathed his blade. The runes on his blade glowed blue, and his eyes flashed gold as he activated the ones on his skin. “Let’s go.”

The Shadowhunters quickly activated their combat runes, and stepped through the rift, one by one, Simon in the rear. Andrew was the last one, and he exchanged another look with Lorenzo. He took another deep breath, and gritting his teeth, Andrew spun around and vanished into the rift.


	10. Chapter 10

Everything in Baal’s realm was grey. Grey twilight and grey fog, with some dead trees, some rocks, and some pillars scattered loosely about. They flat ground stretched between them and the horizon, or what might have been the horizon; it was difficult to say because the emptiness messed with your spatial awareness. It all vanished in fog in the distance, a strange nothingness that was hard to look at because human minds weren’t made for this place. And it was freezing cold. 

Andrew now produced a piece of white fabric from the pocket of his jacket: Annie’s favourite T-shirt, the one with the red winged heart on front. He hadn’t brought the elephant for fear of losing it here if things got rough, even if it might be the better focus. 

A few deep breaths, and he opened his eyes again. “That way.”

None of the Shadowhunters however allowed themselves the illusion that it would be that easy, just find her, grab her, and hop through the rift again. Weapons drawn, they followed Andrew with all their senses trained on their surroundings, all of them but Andrew who could only focus on the trail leading him towards his daughter. Their feet kicked up dust that left no footprints as it settled again.

The number of trees was gradually decreasing as they walked, but a growing amount of pillars in more and more regular rows gave the impression of being inside a large building, like a temple or a palace. There wasn’t a roof, but there wasn’t a sky either, just the grey emptiness that was so unsettling the best thing was to not look up. 

The pillars were so close now they began to form walls and windowless hallways. Suddenly they heard scraping and hissing sounds, and without further warning two huge, four-armed, black demons appeared. The same kind of demon that had attacked and poisoned Andrew the night he had found and saved Annie as a baby.

“Watch out for the tentacles!” he called as he unsheathed his blade. “They’re poison injectors!”

Knowing what to watch out for they really weren’t a challenge, just as Isabelle had told him back then. They were slow and rather dumb, and couldn’t handle being attacked from more than one direction. The Shadowhunters made short work of them, losing hardly any time, and Andrew quickly got back on track. 

“We’re getting close,” he muttered, and walked even faster.

“Which is funny,” Simon said, looking left and right. “Not the funny kind of funny, the weird kind of funny. If we’re so close, I should be able to smell her blood, but I don’t.”

Andrew stopped, and took a deep, shaky breath. “You sure it’s not all the angel blood here messing with you?”

“Dude, I know what angel blood smells like, and I also know what warlock blood smells like. I can smell a warlock in the Institute.”

Shaking his head, Andrew now followed the trail, and he was almost running now. His heart was racing much too fast for the light jog, and he wasn’t only shivering from the cold. The fear of being too late was gnawing at his very bones, even if he knew that a minute wouldn’t make a difference anymore.

“Hey,” Simon said. “I can hear a heartbeat. Which is really weird, because I still can’t smell blood.”

“This can’t be good,” Alec muttered. 

Andrew had nothing to reply, but stopped dead in his tracks as they rounded the next corner. There were several doors, and the tracking spell led him to one of them.

“Is she in there?” Isabelle asked in a whisper.

Andrew nodded, and hesitated before he reached for the door handle. There was a heartbeat, which was good, but there was no smell of blood, which was terrifying. Another deep breath, and he opened the door. 

“Annie?”

If it hadn’t been for Simon’s words about a heartbeat, Andrew would have lost it right then and there. There she was, sitting cross-legged on a bed, but she looked like a statue. She was grey, completely grey, her hair a shade darker than her skin. Her dress was grey too, and it didn’t even have a pattern anymore. 

Both the shirt and his blade slid out of his trembling fingers as he took a step towards the bed, and another one. He felt as if his legs would give under him any moment.

“Annie,” he whispered, his voice flat with terror. “Annie... sweetie... I’m here. I’m here, okay? I’m here... I’m here to take you home. Everything’s going to be okay again...”

He could see her open her eyes, but she didn’t look at him.

“Annie?” He took another step. “Sweetie, I’m sorry it took me so long, but I came as fast as I could. I swear, as fast as I could...” He swallowed the tears that were burning in his eyes and throat. “We can go home now, sweetie.”

Her lips parted, and closed again. She took a few deeper breaths, blinking slowly. And then she slowly turned her head to look at him. 

Andrew could have cried with relief, because her eyes, her eyes were still there, iridescent turquoise like living mother of pearl around a star-shaped pupil. He dug the heel of his hand in one eye, then the other, swallowing the lump in his throat. If her eyes were still there then the transformation wasn’t complete yet. It had to be. 

“Annie?” He took another step towards the bed, and cautiously sat down. And then another terrifying thought hit him: Lorenzo had talked about Baal getting into her head. He didn’t understand the next thing about magic like that, but Baal could have done anything to her mind. “Annie... do you know who I am?” The lump in his throat had the size of a brick now. “Do you remember me?”

She blinked once, slowly, and again. Her lips parted. “Daddy,” she whispered, her voice toneless and lifeless. 

“Yes,” Andrew said, and tried to smile through his tears. Wiping the back of his hand across his eyes and cheeks he nodded. “Yes, I’m here. I’m here to take you home.”

“I don’t have a home anymore,” she replied, her voice so devoid of emotion it broke Andrew’s heart.

“What are you talking about?” He wiped his eyes again. “Of course you have a home, with Papá and me. We miss you terribly and we want you to come home. I’m here to take you home.”

“But you don’t want me anymore,” Annie replied, so matter-of-factly that Andrew felt like punched in the guts.

“What... did she tell you that?” Andrew took a deep breath. “Did she tell you we don’t want you anymore?” He wiped his eyes again. “Pumpkin, then why am I here?”

“Because Papá wants my magic?” She blinked again, but her stony, empty facial expression changed; there was a trace of confusion in her eyes now.

“No.” Andrew shook his head. “No, he doesn’t want your magic for himself. Baal lied to you. She lied.”

He reached out, hesitated, and then reached out again. He almost flinched back when his fingers touched the skin of Annie’s hand; she was ice-cold, as if she was really made of stone. He needed to get her out of here. Now.

“Baal lied about everything,” he said, and cautiously closed his fingers around her hand. “Papá doesn’t want your magic, and I... Annie, I’m a Shadowhunter but I love your Papá, and his demon blood, because that’s what makes him... him. And I love you, and your demon blood, because that’s what makes you you. Baal lied, and she ensorcelled Papá, she... kind of froze him with her magic so he couldn’t move anymore, and he couldn’t talk anymore. And she told you that he couldn’t lie, but he couldn’t speak at all, so you would believe her, not him. Do you understand?” He squeezed her hand and slid a little closer. “Papá and I, we both love you, more than anything in the world.”

She swallowed. “Is Papá here too?”

“No, sweetie,” Andrew replied and shook his head, trying to smile. “He and Uncle Magnus opened the portal to this place, but it was so hard to make that portal that they both need all their magic to keep it open. He wanted to come, he wanted it so bad, but he had to stay outside and make sure we can go home again.”

Annie blinked again, and then her eyes began to glisten, and a tear fell from her lashes the next time she blinked. It left a trail of pale pink behind as it trickled down her cheek, as if it was washing dust from her skin. The colour vanished again after a few seconds, but it gave Andrew a surge of hope. 

“Baal lied to you,” he said again, insistently, meeting her eyes. “And she ensorcelled you so it was easier for her to make you believe her lies.”

Annie just stared at him in forlorn despair, and another tear washed a small patch of pink into the grey of her face. Then her eyes fogged over.

“Papá didn’t say anything,” she whispered.

Andrew took a deep, deep breath. “Because Baal used magic on him so he couldn’t talk. He couldn’t move and he couldn’t talk, so you believed he didn’t want to answer.”

“Andrew,” Jace said in a low voice from the door. “We need to get her out of here. The warlocks can fix her. But we need to get her out of here now.”

“Jace is right, okay?” Andrew sniffed and tried to smile again. “We get you home, sweetie. Everything will be okay.”

Annie looked down, and at her hand resting in Andrew’s. “But you all hate me now because I’m... I’m grey. From being here.”

“Do I look as if I hate you?” Andrew asked, forcing his voice as calm as possible when all he wanted to do was scream at her to make her believe him. She was struggling against a spell, not being stupid and stubborn. He gently reached out and tucked a stray curl behind her ear.

She looked up at him and her eyes cleared somewhat, but then she shook her head, and they fogged over again. “But what about the other warlock girl?”

Andrew was caught completely unawares by that question and rapidly blinked a few times in utter confusion. “What warlock girl?” He leaned forward with a frown. “Madzie?”

Annie shook her head. “No, the other warlock girl. The one with the red curly hair, who is prettier than me, and who’s sweet and always does as you say, and who always keeps her room tidy and never breaks things.”

Staring at her with his mouth hanging open, Andrew was completely at a loss for words. 

“She can have my toys if she likes,” Annie went on, her voice so emotionless, and yet, more tears were running down her cheeks now. “But can I keep the elephant? And can you help me find new dads?”

A cold shiver ran down Andrew’s spine and he shook his head. But then the implication of what she was saying trickled into his brain, and it made his blood curdle in his veins. “Oh my god,” he whispered, horrified by that realisation. “Did she tell you that? That we found another warlock girl to replace you?” 

Annie nodded mutely. 

“Annie... no...” Andrew shook his head. “Annie... by the Angel, no, no... there is no other warlock girl. I swear there is no other warlock girl! She lied! She lied to you!”

More tears ran down Annie’s cheek. A few forlorn, random sparks of turquoise magic fell from her fingers.

“No,” Andrew said forcefully. “No, you’re not getting any new dads, and you know why?” He closed his fingers firmly around her hand and pulled that hand close, pressing it against his chest. “Because we are your dads. Papá and I, we are your dads, and there is no other warlock girl. Nothing and no one could ever replace you, not in our lives, not in our hearts, not ever. You are our baby girl, our angel princess, you’re my pumpkin and Papá’s angelita, and that will never, ever change.” 

A few more sparks danced on Annie’s fingers, a soft turquoise glow lit up around her hands, and now a few wisps of magic appeared all around her. A sob escaped her, painful and desperate, and despite feeling his skin tingle and sting as her magic crackled around him, Andrew held on to her hand. 

“Daddy...” She whispered, and the magic curled around her limbs in weaving clouds. “Daddy...”

And the magic erupted in a bright flare of light that threw Andrew off the bed, and made the other Shadowhunters stagger back. 

“Daddy!” Another sob, and she started to cry in earnest now, big, heaving sobs that shook her whole body. “Daddy!”

Andrew scrambled onto his feet, ignoring the sting in his elbow and wrist, and fell down onto his knees on the bed, right next to her. Annie threw herself against him with another sob, and Andrew clamped his arms around her, pressing her so close to him as he could, and buried his face into her hair. It felt strangely cold and smelled of dust, but he held on for dear life, unable to hold back his own tears.

“It’s okay, sweetie,” he muttered into her hair. “It’s okay, I’m here. And I won’t leave you.”

“I want to go home,” she sobbed into his shirt. “Please, Daddy, I want to go home.”

“That’s what we’re doing, sweetie.” Andrew kissed the top of her head before pressing his cheek against her crown, arms still firmly around her. “We’ll be going home. To Papá, and Uncle Magnus, and Catarina and Madzie.”

“And Uncle Alec?” Annie muttered into his shirt, still sobbing but not nearly as hard. 

“Uncle Alec is here,” Andrew replied, and smiled at her through his tears when she peeled her face away from him. 

“Is he?”

“Hey,” Alec replied, and leaned to the left so Annie could see him better as she looked past Andrew now. “And Izzy is too, and Jace, and Clary, and Simon. We’re here to take you home.”

Annie stared at him for a moment, but then looked up at Andrew. “I want to go home to Papá.”

“Then let’s go,” Andrew said, pulled her close again for a moment, and kissed her hair before letting go again. “I don’t want to be here anymore either.”

“Guys,” Simon said from the doorway, and it didn’t sound good. “We’re not alone anymore.”

The growling and hissing was a familiar sound by now, and the Shadowhunters turned to face the door.

“Brother demons,” Annie whispered, eyes widening in fear.

“Brother...?” Andrew looked at her as he got off the bed, and swiftly picked her up. 

“Brother demons,” Annie said again. “Baal said they’re her children, and my brothers, but they’re demons, and I needed to be half human so I could be a warlock and not a... a... demon... thing.”

“Well...” Jace sad and looked at the group of black demons. “We’ll probably have to hurt them to get out of here, brothers or not.”

“I don’t like them,” Annie whispered and buried her face into Andrew’s shoulder. 

Andrew took a deep breath now, and swallowed hard. “Simon,” he said.

“Got you,” Simon replied and stepped closer. “That’s what I came here for.”

“Annie,” Andrew said. “Hey, sweetie, look at me.”

She reluctantly looked up at his face. 

“You have to go with Simon, okay? Because we will have to fight, the others and I, and I can’t fight demons when I’m carrying you. But we need to keep those demons away from you, and Simon can carry you to the portal and back to Papá faster than any of us. You know how fast he is, right? Like a racing car?”

“Faster!” Simon said brightly, even if his broad smile looked a little strained. “We’ll be home faster than you can say banana bread.”

“Don’t go, Daddy,” Annie whispered and clung to Andrew with all her strength.

“I’m not going, sweetie. But I need both arms free to protect you, and Simon will carry you home, and we, we’ll be right behind you, keeping the demons away from you and the portal.”

Andrew had to use some serious effort to peel Annie away from him, and she reached out for him as Simon took her.

“No, Daddy, please, I wanna stay with Daddy!”

“You can’t,” Andrew said, ignoring his burning eyes. “Go.” He nodded at Simon. “Go. Bring her to safety.”

Simon adjusted her in his arms. “Just hold on to me real hard, princess,” he said. “As hard as you can. And then we’ll be out of here like an X-wing.”

“Daddy...” 

“Hold on to Simon!” Andrew said and picked up his sword. “Simon, go!”

Simon nodded, and vanished in a blur. 

The Shadowhunters followed him, but there were too many of the huge, lumbering demons to doge and run past, so they had to engage and fight their way out. 

And then they heard the scream.

It was none of the huge, black beasts, and it was laced with rage and madness, and carried enough force to make the ground shake beneath them.

“Oh shit...” Jace muttered as he dared a glance over his shoulder. “Run.”

* * *

Clutching Annie to his chest Simon shot out of the rift almost like a cannonball, and just about managed to stop before he would have run into the shield. Annie was still crying, and cried even harder when Simon handed her to Catarina who sat down with her to examine her. 

“Papá? I want Papá...” Her voice was so thin and miserable that it was impossible not to look at her without a lump in your throat. “Papá?” 

Lorenzo froze and stared at her, shaking his head. “No... please...”

“Her eyes are still blue so it’s not too late, right?” Simon asked nervously. 

Closing his eyes with a huff, Lorenzo could only shake his head. Then he looked at Annie again, who was sitting in Catarina’s lap. 

“Lorenzo!” Magnus growled. “Focus!”

Lorenzo shook his head like a wet dog and focussed on the portal again, but his eyes wandered back to the other side of the shield.

“Lorenzo!” Magnus barked. “If you want to ever see your husband again, and I sure want to see mine, then you have to focus because I can’t keep this thing open on my own!”

Gritting his teeth Lorenzo forced his mind to blank out Annie’s crying which didn’t really work, but he could scrape together enough willpower to enable him to focus on the portal again. 

Only moments later a black blur appeared and Clary stumbled out of the rift, followed by Izzy and Jace. Alec was next, supporting Andrew who was bleeding from a gash in his leg. 

“Close the portal!” Alec yelled. “Close it!”

Both Magnus and Lorenzo immediately stopped pouring their magic into the rift, and it started to collapse, but not nearly fast enough. They exchanged a nod and poured more magic into it, this time to seal it, but suddenly the edges of the rift wavered and froze. 

And a large, grey, clawed hand appeared, gripping the edge of the rift, and on the other side, another hand did the same. The hands now pushed the rift open again like the sliding doors of an elevator, and the next thing that appeared was a face with grey eyes, black, billowing hair, and black pointy teeth. 

Annie froze in terror, the only sound escaping her a choked, dry sob. 

Lorenzo was the first to react. He pulled the amplifier potion out of his pocket and took a sip, then summoned his magic again. 

But he didn’t attack Baal with magic. He took a step back and broke into a run, his magic coalescing around his hands almost like solid gold, and he careened into Baal at full speed, pushing her back through the portal with the full force of his body and his magic. 

The moment Baal lost her grip on the edges of the rift it snapped shut, gone without a trace. 

As was Lorenzo.


	11. Chapter 11

“Papá! Papá!! Come back! Please come back!”

In the shocked, stony silence Annie’s desperate sobs were the only sound; everyone else was still too stunned to react. Andrew sank down next to her and Catarina with a painful grunt, and picked Annie up to settle her in his lap, his eyes on the empty space where the rift had been only moments ago. Catarina immediately turned her attention to his leg, but Andrew just closed his arms around his daughter.

“Papá?” She looked up at Andrew, her pale face wet with tears. “Where is Papá? Is he in the grey place?”

“He is, sweetie.” Andrew brushed her hair back from her face. “But I’ll get him back.” He winced as Catarina’s magic knitted his flesh back together, and looked up at Magnus. “How long do you need to get the rift open again?”

“Alone?” Magnus shook his head. “You were here, Andrew. It’s going to take at least two warlocks, and half a day.”

Andrew shook his head, cupping Annie’s head to pull her close. “Baal isn’t going to be...”

His voice was a little unsteady and he couldn’t finish that sentence, but he didn’t need to. Baal would be furious, and Lorenzo was only a single warlock and no match for the fury of a greater demon. It might well be too late already.

“I know,” Magnus replied, and looked at the centre of the pentagram with a heavy sigh. “Better hurry up.”

“Magnus.” Vincent walked over to his side, carefully stepping over the lines of the pentagram to avoid smudging them. “You need more firepower.” Magnus looked at him, and Vincent shrugged. “We need more firepower. And I think I know the right kind of explosive.”

With that, he went down into a crouch and opened the box with the vials. He took a red one, and held it up to the light to inspect it. Then he took another, and offered that to Magnus.

“Lorenzo said they haven’t been properly tested yet,” Magnus said, but took the offered vial anyway, giving it a critical look.

“The question is: do we have the luxury of time to think of something else?” Vincent uncorked his vial and sniffed it. 

“Probably not,” Magnus replied, and uncorked his own vial. 

“No risk, no fun,” Vincent replied, and unceremoniously poured the whole content of the vial down his throat. 

Seconds later his eyes widened and started to glow. His glamour fell, and with his horse tail beating the air, he dropped the vial.

“Holy shit!” A huge grin spread on his face. “Wahoo, Lorenzo, this stuff is a gold mine!”

Magnus exchanged a look with Alec, then shrugged, and followed Vincent’s example. Moments after he had emptied his vial his eyes began to glow as well, his glamour vanished, and when he snapped his fingers, his magic flared up so bright everyone had to look away.

“We have lift-off,” he said giddily and with a trace of awe in his voice. “This is going to be a piece of cake.”

“I haven’t memorized the spell,” Vincent said, and his hands were surrounded by a blue-grey magic, the colour of the ocean on a cloudy day. “You create the opening, and I join you in tearing it apart.”

Magnus nodded and cast the spell, and once a small tear had appeared in the air before him, Vincent started to pour his magic into it as well. 

“There’s most likely going to be one hell of a price to pay for that,” Catarina muttered as she watched the rift open. “We have no idea of any side or after effects.”

“But that’s the problem of future Vincent!” Vincent said merrily. “And here we are!”

It took mere minutes to open the rift this time. Andrew got up, trying to dislodge Annie from his lap who clung to him like a burr. 

“Annie, you have to stay with Catarina. I’m going to get Papá back.”

“Daddy, don’t go,” Annie said, her voice flat with fear. “Please don’t go! Don’t go back to the grey place!”

“But I have to get Papá out of there.” Andrew pointed at the rift, and the ominous grey emptiness behind it. “I have to help him now just like I helped you.”

“You and what army?” Alec asked, and Andrew, who had finally managed to transfer a crying Annie into Catarina’s arms, turned around to face him.

“You expect me to leave him there?” Andrew shook his head in disbelief. “I can’t just-”

“Of course not,” Alec cut in. “But you can’t go in there alone!”

Andrew shrugged and looked around. But before he could say anything, Isabelle stepped to her brother’s side. 

“Andrew, you really think we’d let Lorenzo rot in there, or let you go alone?” She crossed her arms.

“Which basically amounts to the same outcome,” Magnus added. “Is everyone ready?”

Looking around, both at his Shadowhunter friends and Magnus, Andrew could only shake his head. 

“It’s been seven years, Andrew.” Alec shouldered his bow. “You really think things haven’t changed?”

“I...” Andrew shrugged helplessly, still shaking his head. 

“Besides,” Jace fell in, unsheathing his blade, “we have a pretty good resume about saving stupid, self-sacrificing warlocks from demonic realms.”

“Excuse me?” Magnus pushed up his sleeves. “Stupid?”

“Whatever.” Clary pulled both her daggers. “We need to get a move on.”

“And you,” Magnus pointed at Andrew, “stay here with Annie.”

“What?!” Andrew stared at him for a moment with his mouth hanging open. “You expect me to just sit here with my thumbs up my ass waiting for you to rescue him?”

“No,” Magnus said calmly. “We’re expecting you to stay here to comfort your daughter, so she doesn’t think she’ll be losing both her dads at once.”

It took Andrew a moment before he was able to close his mouth, and then he slowly looked at Annie who was still squirming in Catarina’s arms while reaching out for him. 

“Don’t go, Daddy,” she whimpered. “Please don’t go!”

Andrew looked at Magnus again, and at his daughter, and with a sigh he took a step forward. Annie all but threw herself at him and clamped both arms and legs around him as hard as she could. 

“It’s okay, Pumpkin.” Andrew closed his arms around her and pressed his cheek into her hair. “It’s okay. I’m here.”

“Don’t worry, Buttercup.” Magnus looked around, and exchanged a nod with everyone else. “We bring your Papá back in no time at all.”

With that he stepped into the rift after exchanging another nod with Vincent who, thanks to the amplifier, didn’t have any problems keeping the rift open on his own.

“Just hurry up,” Vincent said to Alec. “We don’t know how long the effect of that potion lasts.”

“Don’t worry,” Alec gave back. “We don’t plan on spending a minute longer in there than we have to.”

One by one, they went back into the rift. Back into the cold grey realm of Baal. Hoping they wouldn’t be too late.

* * *

Lorenzo hadn’t had time to think. He had seen Baal about to enter his home, and had simply known that there was only one thing he could do: make her lose the grip on the rift and push her back. That he would end up here together with her had gone up for him the moment he had careened into her, but even if it had occurred to him earlier, he would have done it anyway. 

Because now Annie was safe, and that was all that mattered.

He had tried to defend himself, but the first bolt of magic he had hurled at Baal had simply vanished into her skin. He had tried again, and again, and had almost drained himself of magic before he had registered what her cruel laughter had truly meant: she had simply absorbed his magic. He had been feeding her. And thanks to the amplifier, he had made her stronger than before instead of weakening her. His hands had fallen down next to him, and had tried to accept his fate as a blast of magic had blown him off his feet.

He would have liked to think he didn’t care what happened to him now, but had to discover he wasn’t quite as brave as he maybe should be. Because looking up at the huge, grey creature holding him down with four arms, her wings billowing behind her, with those grey eyes on him glowing with fury, Lorenzo knew that he wouldn’t get off as lightly as simply being killed. 

“I should have killed you,” Baal hissed, her cold breath like a cloud of acid on his skin. “But I guess that beautiful little girl softened me up to much.” She tilted her head, and leaned even closer. “I shall greatly enjoy rectifying that mistake.”

“I didn’t expect to get out of here alive,” Lorenzo replied, trying to ignore the pain of two sets of claws digging into his upper arms and another two sets digging into his thighs.

“You will regret the day you were born,” Baal said slowly, her claws breaking Lorenzo’s skin, drawing blood. “And even more, I will make you regret the day you took my daughter from me.”

“You sired her, maybe,” Lorenzo pressed out through gritted teeth, “but you are not her mother.”

“And you are not her father!” Baal roared, her claws slicing into Lorenzo’s flesh. “She my daughter, do you hear me? Mine!!”

“She is my daughter in every way that matters,” Lorenzo hissed and closed his eyes. 

Baal’s furious screech made his ears tingle, and he shuddered violently when that voice now appeared again much too close to his ear.

“You want to have it over with, don’t you?” Her low purr made Lorenzo’s stomach turn. “But you don’t honestly believe I will just kill you?”

“I didn’t,” Lorenzo whispered, eyes still closed, while trying to ignore the pain of her claws slicing through his skin and muscles. Yes, he was strong and had an enormous amount of willpower, but he couldn’t say why he wasted that now on trying to keep his dignity for just a moment longer. It wouldn’t matter anyway in the long run.

He was trying to come to grips with his imminent death, but the truth was, Lorenzo wasn’t a hero. Lorenzo Rey wasn’t a self-sacrificing warrior who had grown up knowing that one day, rather sooner than later, a bloody, painful death would await him. He didn’t want to die. He didn’t want to die a slow and torturous death, especially not here, not at the hands of this monster. 

“I will make you die a thousand deaths,” Baal whispered. Her claws had reached Lorenzo’s bones now, and she pulled them out of his flesh again, very, very slowly.

There was only one thing to take comfort in now, and that was the fact that Annie was safe. She still had Andrew, she still had all the others to help her, and there might even be another warlock, Magnus maybe, who could become the guardian of her magic. 

“I will make you die a thousand deaths, and I will not let you die at all,” Baal whispered, one of her bloodied claws caressing the contour of Lorenzo’s face. “I will drive you to the brink of death, and then I shall bring you back, and do it all over again. And since you are immortal, you will never die away from me.” 

Her claw came to halt below his chin, pricking the skin, pushing upward very carefully. 

“We will have millennia together here, thousands of years in which I will introduce you to more pain than you will be able to imagine.” 

The claw now scratched across the skin, and Lorenzo could feel it pressing against the underside of his tongue. Cold sweat broke out all over his body. 

“And one day, you will beg to help me find a way out of here to get my daughter back.”

“Never,” Lorenzo growled. “I will-”

The claw broke through his skin and flesh, slicing right through his tongue, to protrude out of his mouth like a gruesome sort of meat hook. She lifted him and held him up at eye level to her. 

What was left of Lorenzo’s magic flared up by instinct, fuelled by his terror and pain, but before he could use it she withdrew the claw again and dropped him. Lorenzo landed flat on his back, unable to breathe for a moment because the wind had been knocked out of him by the painful impact. The pain made him nauseous, his mouth filled with blood, and it was all he could do to turn onto his stomach so the blood couldn’t choke him. 

Knowing that it was far from over he expected another blow, but what he heard instead was another furious scream. Followed by...

“Get away from him, you bitch!”

Lorenzo knew that voice, but he hadn’t expected to start hallucinating so soon. He was far from being close to death by blood loss to already be delirious, but there was no reason for Clary Fairchild to be here to witness his demise. Yet he somehow managed to push himself up into his elbows, and looked at Baal to see a small Seraph blade buried to the hilt in one of her arms. 

Before he could even process that information a set of three arrows joined the dagger, and with her flesh burning and hissing and disintegrating around the adamas like salt in water, Baal staggered back with screams of fury and pain. 

“Lorenzo!”

Magnus?

“Lorenzo, oh my god...”

A pair of hands grabbed him by the shoulders, and somehow Lorenzo was able to assist that pair of hands to pull him upright into a sitting position. Cool, soothing magic flowed into his mouth and around his face, and when his vision swam into focus again, Lorenzo looked into Magnus’ pale, tight face. 

“Don’t move, and don’t try to speak. She dislocated your jaw.”

It took Magnus and his magic mere moments to fix the damage Baal had done to him, but before Magnus could join the fight, Lorenzo grabbed his sleeve. 

“Don’t,” he slurred, his tongue still a little stiff. “She feeds on your magic.”

“What?” Magnus crouched down again. 

“She absorbs magic,” Lorenzo said again. “No matter how, no matter what you throw at her, she will just absorb it. It won’t damage her, just makes her more powerful.”

Magnus pressed his lips together and looked at the demon, and the Shadowhunters who had surrounded her, nimbly evading the blows of her long, clawed arms and those of her wings. 

“I can’t join the fight, then,” Magnus half-stated, half asked.

“Not with magic,” Lorenzo replied. 

“So what am I supposed to do? Summon a piano and hurl that at her?”

Baal screamed again as Alec embedded another set of arrows into her back. 

“It would have more effect than hurling magic at her,” Lorenzo replied drily.

At the same time, doubtlessly summoned by her screams, a few of those large, lumbering beasts appeared, and the time for helplessly watching the ongoing was over for the two warlocks, even if Lorenzo didn’t have much magic to speak of left to join the fight.

Ball fell onto one knee, pierced by Seraph blades and arrows, and just as the two warlocks were holding their breath, hoping against all hopes that the fight might be over already, Baal threw back her head and buried her claws into the ground. She howled, and the ground began to tremble, making the Shadowhunters, warlocks and her own demon spawn fight for balance. Then the cold, stony surface blurred and turned into something that looked like waves, and those waves sloshed up around the legs of the Shadowhunters surrounding her. 

It happened within seconds, and Lorenzo and Magnus watched in helpless horror as pillars of stone swallowed their friends within seconds. 

Baal tore her hands out of the ground again, threw her head back, and screamed again. A scream that made the ground tremble again, and Magnus and Lorenzo couldn’t even cover their ears, fighting back the last of the black, eyeless demons.

Around them, Baal’s screams echoed through the grey emptiness like a call for the damned to rise from their graves.

* * *

Annie screamed.

She went as stiff as a stone in Andrew’s arms and screamed, and screamed, and then she unfroze and began to fight against his embrace.

“Annie!” Andrew tried to tighten his hold, but suddenly a flare of magic erupted from her body and flung him onto his back. 

Surrounded by a cloud of magic, pale turquoise billowing and blending with grey, she got up and walked towards the portal with the look of someone who is sleepwalking. 

“Annie!!” 

Andrew tried to get onto his feet again, but Catarina reached her first. Annie thrust out an arm to push her back, but to everyone’s horror, she also pulled a strand of blue light out of Catarina’s abdomen. 

“Annie, stop!” Catarina screamed at her. “Stop that!”

Annie was stealing her magic. 

“Stop that!” Andrew screamed as well and staggered towards her. But before he could touch her another wave of magic threw him away just like the first time. He landed on his back again, but this time couldn’t stop his head from hitting the ground. He rolled onto his side with a groan.

Annie stood there in the middle of the room, crying helplessly with Catarina sinking to her knees before her with a terrified groan as she was drained of her magic. Andrew could only watch in horror as all around her, streams of magic were torn out of the surrounding warlocks, coalescing into a cloud of grey shot through with veins of colour as it was absorbed by the little girl who was crying with heartbreaking sobs. 

The shield collapsed, and the warlocks staggered back, some falling to their knees, some sinking against the wall, clutching their heads or their abdomens with soft moans or grunts. And now Annie walked towards the portal again, unsteady and hesitant, as if pulled there by an invisible thread. 

“Vincent, do something!” Andrew screamed in horror while staggering back onto his feet. “Stop her!”

“If I do I’ll lose the rift!” Vincent screamed back, eyes wide in terror. 

Annie stumbled another step forward, and gritting his teeth, Vincent reached out with one arm to try and hold her back. Yet he didn’t dare to let go of the opening, and Annie pushed his arm away and stepped into the darkness. 

“ANNIE!” Andrew grabbed his blade, and jumped into the rift right on her heels.


	12. Chapter 12

The last of the demons disintegrated under a burst of fiery magic, and in the silence, the two warlocks turned to face Baal again. Numb with shock they stared at the group of stone pillars surrounding Baal, unable to move even as Baal stopped screaming and got to her feet again. 

“Alexander...” 

Lorenzo could only shake his head.

But then Magnus unfroze, and his eyes lit up with bright, burning fury. “I will end you!” He jumped up and hurled a huge ball of red magic at the demon, and while the impact made her stagger back, it didn’t harm her in the slightest.

“Magnus, no!” Lorenzo forced his feet under him and got up as well. He swayed, both nauseous and still reeling with shock. “Magnus, you’re only making her stronger!”

But Magnus was beyond reasoning after having been forced to watch Alec being turned to stone. Screaming at the top of his lungs he threw one bolt of magic after the other at the laughing demon, too stricken with fury and grief to realise that he was doing the opposite of harming her. 

Lorenzo grabbed Magnus’ jacket before the latter could throw another bolt of magic and hauled him back, then clamped both arms around Magnus’ midriff, immobilising his arms. 

“Let me GO!”

“No!” Lorenzo gritted his teeth. “You shooting magic at her only makes her stronger! We have to think of something else!”

Magnus stopped struggling in his hold and went limp for a moment, but then straightened up again, staring ahead with gritted teeth. He had tears on his cheeks when he looked at Lorenzo again, but was no longer lost in his fury. 

“And what do we do?” Magnus asked in a broken voice, shaking his head. “Normal weapons don’t do anything to greater demons either!”

“And neither of us can wield adamas,” Lorenzo replied and swallowed. 

Baal had in the meantime straightened up, completely ignoring the warlocks in the knowledge of being safe from their only means of attacking her. In fact, she was smiling an unsettling smile of utter triumph. 

“There you are, sweet one. I knew you’d come back to me.”

Lorenzo’s blood turned to ice in his veins, and he could only shake his head, his mouth hanging open in shock. Annie was slowly stepping towards Baal, looking up at the huge creature with tears flowing down her cheeks. She was surrounded by a billowing cloud of grey and turquoise magic crawling with veins and bursts of different colours that stirred her hair and the hem of her dress. 

“Annie?” Lorenzo shook his head, unable to process the sight before his eyes, and every hair on his body stood on edge. “Annie... great god, what is she doing here?”

“Baal must still have a hold on her mind,” Magnus whispered back. “And since the rift is still open, she was able to summon her.”

“But what is that?” Lorenzo gestured helplessly at the huge aura of magic. “That doesn’t look like her magic at all!”

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s-”

“ANNIE!”

“Andrew?” For the second time in as many minutes Lorenzo froze in shock as Andrew now came into view, running at full speed, his seraph blade glowing. 

“Annie, get away from her!!” Andrew raced past her, and completely disregarding any awareness of his own safety, and common sense, attacked Baal with a swing of his blade. 

Baal didn’t even flinch as she thrust out an arm and sent him flying through the air like a rag doll. He lost his sword and landed hard on the dusty ground, but was able to somehow lessen the force of impact with rolling off his shoulder. He still grunted in pain, and he only barely managed to get onto his knees again. 

Lorenzo and Magnus were at his side in an instant, but apart from a few scrapes, he wasn’t injured. 

“Please stop hurting them,” Annie said to Baal, looking up at the huge creature before her, her hands and eyes glowing with magic. 

“I will,” Baal said dismissively. “They don’t mean anything. They can go, for all I care, as long as you stay with me, sweet one.”

“Stop hurting them,” Annie said again, tears running down her cheeks. “Let them go and stop hurting them! Please!”

“Fine.” Baal sighed and waved her hand, and the stone that had held the Shadowhunters crumbled away like dry sand. “Go home and never dare to attack me again.”

The freed Shadowhunters stumbled out of the dust clouds surrounding them, coughing and groaning, but very much alive. Magnus didn’t waste any time and threw himself bodily at Alec who was still somewhat stunned and just staggered under the impact, but managed to close his arms around him. Lorenzo was still kneeling next to Andrew, and they both stared at Annie who looked like a haunt, surrounded by that billowing cloud of magic. 

Attacking Baal again right now was not only impossible because of the state the Shadowhunters were still in. She was standing only two steps away from Annie, far too close, too great the risk of endangering the little girl.

“And now get out of my sight!” Baal growled at them. “I won’t give you another chance!”

Andrew laboriously got onto his feet again and grabbed his blade. “Not without Annie, you monster!”

A blast of grey magic hit him right in the chest, completely paralysing him. Judging by the way his eyes widened in panic, he couldn’t even breathe.

“Stop!” Annie screamed. “Stop hurting him!”

Baal didn’t react and grabbed Andrew in a chokehold of magic, slamming him into the ground, and what was left of Lorenzo’s magic barely managed to cushion the impact so the force wouldn’t shatter his bones.

“Stop!” Annie screamed again, voice shrill with panic. “Stop hurting them! Stop hurting my dads!”

“They are not your fathers!” Baal screamed, but let Andrew go. “And I gave them the chance to leave, but they wouldn’t!”

“Stop hurting them!” Annie stared up at the demonic creature, tears running down her cheeks while the strange magic thickened and coalesced into a bright orb around her hands. “Stop hurting them!” She threw the orb of light and hit Baal right in the chest, but this time, Baal didn’t lose her balance from the impact. She just laughed.

“Do you really think you can hurt me with my own magic, stupid child?” Her wings spread out and billowed behind her like a cloak. 

Annie dropped her hands again, looking up at Baal with her arms hanging limply down at her sides. “I don’t want to be here...” she said, her voice thick with tears. “Please, I want to go home...”

“Then give me your magic!” Baal bent forward, looming over the child like Damocles’ blade. “Give it to me and you are free to go!”

“Annie! No!” Panic forming like a cold knot in his guts Lorenzo tried to get up, but Magnus held him back. “Don’t do it!!”

“I want to go home,” Annie whispered in a flat, dead voice. 

But then Baal threw up all four of her arms, spread her wings, and barked a command in a demonic language even the warlocks couldn’t translate. 

Annie froze, and with white, glowing eyes and crying with big, heartbreaking sobs she lifted both of her hands again. Two lightning bolts of twitching, fluorescent magic began to form between her and Baal like an arc load, flowing from Annie’s palms right into Baal’s abdomen. Arms and wings spread wide, Baal was howling in delight as the bright light of magic was flowing into her body.

“Annie, no...” Lorenzo whispered, his voice flat with horror. “No...”

But suddenly Baal’s skin began to crack around the spots where the veins of light connected to her body, and small dents formed around them and first began to smoke, then burn in bluish fire. Her cruel grin of triumph began to waver, and for a second there was nothing but confusion in her face. She grabbed one of the arcs of light and tried to pull it out of her flesh. An angry grunt, then a furious scream, but it wouldn’t budge.

No one dared to intervene or even get too close to Annie, who was still the centre of a magical storm made from several different colours. Her hair was flying around her head, a storm that didn’t stir up a grain of dust outside the vortex surrounding her. 

By now Magnus had dragged Alec and Isabelle away, and Jace had had enough strength left to pull Clary along as he followed them. They all stared at Baal, who was screaming and writhing and unsuccessfully trying to dispel the arcs of light boring into her body that she had summoned herself, but that were now out of her control. The light of the magic feeding from Annie to the demon was bright enough to leave blue streaks on everyone’s retinas.

“What is she doing,” Andrew asked, while everyone stared at the scene unfolding before them. 

“I don’t know,” Lorenzo whispered back. “I don’t understand... I don’t understand how she can have that much magic.”

“She kind of...” Andrew swallowed. “She drained the other warlocks of magic before she came here.”

Both warlocks stared at Andrew in wide-eyed horror.

“All of them?” Magnus asked, his voice trembling.

“All of them but Vincent.” Andrew shook his head with a helpless shrug. “Obviously she knew she needed him to keep the rift intact. But everyone else...”

“But... just like that? She... how?” Lorenzo looked at Magnus. “And why?”

Several helpless looks were exchanged.

“It’s what she’s been bred for,” Magnus whispered after a moment.

“What?” Lorenzo looked back and forth between Magnus and Annie. 

“This is what she has been bred for,” Magnus repeated. “Incredibly powerful, and able to absorb and release huge amounts of magic. The ultimate warlock battery, remember?”

With one huge burst of light the last of the magic now left Annie’s body, and she fell onto her backside with a sob as the vortex collapsed around her, gone without a trace within a heartbeat. But Baal was still writhing, still screaming, her flesh cracking with blue, bright light appearing in the tears of her skin. She fell over, her limbs flailing as she screamed, and small spouts of light shot out of the larger wounds. Her screams turned into wails of pure agony. 

“She overloaded her,” Lorenzo whispered hoarsely. “She had so much magic that Baal can’t handle it...”

“Looks like it,” Magnus replied. “Looks like the very thing that Baal wanted to use her for is now undoing her...” Then he looked around. “But that also means we need to get out of here in case Baal doesn’t recover. We know what happens to demonic realms if their maker and ruler is no longer around.”

Andrew staggered onto his feet and broke into a run, and grabbed Annie by her armpits to haul her onto his shoulder like a sack. Baal was helplessly screaming and flailing and writhing as the magic wreaked havoc on her body, and two of her arms fell off and disintegrated in bursts of white-bluish light. 

Still affected from the petrifaction, the Shadowhunters couldn’t nearly run as fast as they would have liked, and they had barely managed to reach the rift when behind them, Baal stopped screaming. 

Everything around them, ground, trees, stones, everything crumbled to dust and vanished. 

“The whole realm is disintegrating!” Magnus cast a protective shield around the small group, but was gritting his teeth, fighting against the force of the spreading nothingness with all his remaining power. “HURRY!”

Magnus’ shield could just about slow the disintegration around them long enough for them to reach the rift. Despite Vincent’s effort it snapped shut behind Magnus, nearly taking his foot off. 

Gasping and coughing and groaning they staggered to a halt, falling to their knees or just sinking to the ground. Simon was immediately at Isabelle’s side to support her with his body, and Magnus did the same with Alec while Jace and Clary leaned against each other. Around them, a handful of drained warlocks were watching them with tired eyes, while Vincent now hastily looked over the whole group to try and find someone who might need medical attention.

Andrew was clutching Annie to his chest who was still crying, a high pitched wailing that sounded as painful as it sounded terrified. 

“Hey,” Andrew whispered into her hair. “Hey, it’s over. It’s over, okay? You’re home, you’re safe. And she’s gone. She’s gone.”

Annie’s sobs slowed down, and after a few choked breaths, she dug her fingers into Andrew’s shirt. “Is Papá still in the grey place?”

“No, angelita.” Still husky and a little breathless, Lorenzo leaned closer and ran his fingers through her hair. “I am right here.”

“Papá?” Annie peeled her face out of Andrew’s shoulder. And seeing Lorenzo sit right next to him, she immediately let go of Andrew’s shirt and crawled hastily into Lorenzo’s lap. 

Lorenzo closed his arms around her as tightly as he could, while Annie pressed herself as close to him as possible with a tiny whimper.

“It’s okay, angelita,” Lorenzo whispered huskily, pressing his cheek into her hair. It had lost some of the greyness, but both her skin and hair were still far too pale. “It’s okay.” Eyes pinched shut Lorenzo pulled her even closer, and tears were clinging to his eyelashes. “It’s okay.”

Annie dug her fingers into his shirt. “Papá...” It was a suffocated little whisper, muffled by the fabric of his shirt, and she curled up into a trembling little ball in his lap. “Papá...”

“No tengas miedo,” Lorenzo whispered, and dropped a kiss into her hair before he pressed his cheek against her crown. “Don’t be scared anymore, angelita.” The tears broke free from his eyes and ran down his cheeks, clinging to his beard in glistening beads. 

He took another shaky breath, but it escaped him again in a sob. It was the hoarse, rusty sob of a man unused to tears and ashamed of them, but unable to hold them back he didn’t fight them. With one hand cupping her head, the other arm slung around her with the hand resting on her back, he held his daughter as close to his heart as he could while rocking her back and forth. 

“I’m sorry, angelita,” Lorenzo whispered into her hair, his voice unsteady and hoarse. “I’m so sorry. I wanted to stop her. I swear I did.” He kissed the top of her head again. “I failed you, and I am so sorry I wasn’t strong enough.” Pressing his cheek into her hair, he swallowed before he went on. “But I swear, no one will ever hurt you again. You are the most precious thing in the world to me, angelita. I love you with all my heart, I swear... I always have, and I always will.” He pulled her closer. “No one will ever lay hands on you again. Not while I still have a drop of blood or magic to give.”

Annie hadn’t stopped trembling, and suddenly a few faint sparks of turquoise danced around her hands and hair. She sobbed once and curled up even tighter, her face pressing into Lorenzo’s chest. 

“Shh,” Lorenzo whispered into her hair. “It’s okay.” 

He didn’t know where he took the strength from, but he managed to somehow scrape enough magic together to cast a tight embrace of golden light around her like a blanket. He had done this when she had been a baby to calm her down, later when she had been plagued by nightmares as a toddler. It had been years since he had done it but it still calmed her down, and she finally stopped trembling, the random sparks of magic vanishing again. 

“Papá...” She whispered against his chest. “I want your magic back... I want your magic back... please, please, I want your magic back...”

Lorenzo finally peeled his face out of her hair and looked up and searched for Magnus, who swallowed and shook his head, hardly able to meet Lorenzo’s red and tear-filled eyes. 

“Papá, please...” Annie whispered, rubbing her face into the fabric of Lorenzo’s shirt. “Papá, please, I want your magic back... please...”

“Angelita...” Lorenzo closed his eyes and kissed the top of her head again. “I...” He took a deep, shaky breath. “You were a baby last time I did it, and...” Annie tensed, curled up even tighter, and Lorenzo hastily closed his arms around her again. “Shh, it’s okay. I’ll find a way. I will figure this out.”

“I want your magic back,” Annie whispered, hardly audible. “Please...”

Lorenzo could only shake his head, eyes pinched shut, and another tear trickled down his cheek.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit of a breather. It's a completely self-indulgent outpouring of my personal headcanon about magic and warlock children. Hope you enjoy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you like, listen to [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyY4IZ3JDFE) while reading. I used on loop while writing this and I feel it sets a beautiful, relaxing mood.

“Hey.” It was a soft, calm voice, and Lorenzo opened his eyes again to see Vincent sit down next to him, one knee folded in, the other propped up with his arm resting upon it. “Hey, Princess. Can you look at me?”

A movement so faint it was hardly there, Annie shook her head.

“That’s okay,” Vincent said. His voice was deep, and low, and there was nothing flippant and annoying about his demeanour anymore. “I’m going to try and explain something to you and your Papá, okay?” He looked at Lorenzo, who nodded, and back at Annie. “It’s about your magic, and your Papá’s magic. So, if you want to ask something because you don’t understand, you can ask anytime, okay?”

Vincent took a deep breath now, looking at nothing for a moment with a small frown. Then he cleared his throat. 

“Okay so, your Papá said that you were a baby when he started guarding your magic. That’s because, as a baby, your magic was very, very small, just like you.” With him speaking very slowly, Vincent’s calm, deep voice had a soothing effect not only on Annie but on Lorenzo as well. “Your magic didn’t have a colour back then,” Vincent went on. “That’s because no baby’s magic has a colour. It’s like... it’s like a seed, and your magic was like a flower growing from that seed.”

Now Annie finally uncurled a little, and peeled her face out of Lorenzo’s chest to look at him, but without letting go of the folds of Lorenzo’s shirt she was clutching in her fists. 

A small, gentle smile appeared on Vincent’s lips. “You see, when a baby warlock feels another warlock, then it does what all babies do. It asks for help. Like a baby cries when it’s hungry or scared, so a grown-up comes to help it, the baby warlock reaches out with its magic. It’s saying ‘help me, I’m just a baby, I need you to protect me’, and the grown-up warlock can then take that magic the baby uses to reach out, and wrap it in his own. 

“It’s the only thing the baby can do with its baby magic. A baby can’t eat and dress alone or control if it has to pee, and it can’t control the magic either. That’s what the grown-up warlock does. Like feeding and changing nappies, the grown-up warlock makes sure that the magic grows and develops the way it has to.”

He paused and looked at Annie, tilting his head. After a moment, Annie nodded. 

“So that’s what you did, as a tiny baby. You held out your magic, telling Lorenzo that you were a tiny baby and need to be protected and kept safe, and he took that magic, and wrapped his around yours, and became your Papá.”

Vincent drew a small orb of white magic into the air before him. It hovered there at Annie’s eye level, and after a moment, Vincent cast a small wave of golden light that wrapped around the white little orb, connected to it with several hair-thin threads. 

“And then, as you grew, your magic began to grow as well.” Now Vincent drew a small bud of turquoise magic growing from the white orb, while expanding the layer of gold around it. “But your Papá’s magic still kept it safe, because controlling magic is difficult, so he had to help you. Just like your Daddy and Papá helped you learn to walk. First holding both of your hands, and then only one, and then only sometimes when you were about to fall. And then, you could walk all by yourself and didn’t need help anymore. Only, learning how to use magic takes much, much longer.”

He gave Annie another moment to process the information, and eventually she nodded again. 

“So, you see, Princess, the problem is that your magic grew a lot faster, and a lot bigger, than the magic of other warlock children, because your sire... Baal wanted you to be extra powerful.”

At the mentioning of that name Annie tensed again, and Vincent leaned back a little, waiting for her to calm down. Lorenzo tightened the hold of the magic blanket around her and ran his fingers through her hair, brushing it back from her face. And after another moment Annie did relax again, swallowed, and nodded while leaning her face against Lorenzo’s chest again. 

“It’s okay.” Vincent nodded with a gentle smile. “She’s gone forever, and won’t ever come back. But I get it that you’re still scared.” He looked at the drawing of magic again that was still hovering in the air between them. “But do you understand now why your Papá was still guarding your magic, even if you weren’t a baby anymore?”

The magic inside the golden layer grew a lot of stalks and leaves, and eventually had covered the white orb completely, and very quickly, while around it the gold expanded accordingly. Annie looked at the growing magic vine with big eyes, and after a moment, she nodded, but it looked hesitant, as if she wasn’t quite sure if she really understood. 

“You see, Princess, when your Papá let you use your magic to practise, it didn’t behave like it was supposed to.” A small gap appeared in the layer of gold, and a shoot of the turquoise flower burst out of the gap like a Jack-in-the-box. The layer of gold quickly expanded, surrounded the errant shoot, and shrunk again, taking the turquoise magic with it. “And I get it, that is super frustrating, and I totally understand you were angry and sad, and maybe you thought that you are stupid.” He smiled calmingly. “Or that you felt like your Papá thought you were stupid. But I promise, it’s not true at all.”

Annie’s eyes had been glued to the display of magic before her, and now she finally leaned back a little and looked up at Lorenzo. Lorenzo smiled down at her, and caressed her cheek with the back of his forefinger. 

“Is that why the picture burned?” she asked, almost in a whisper.

Lorenzo nodded. “Yes. But the picture doesn’t matter. I’m just so worried your magic could hurt you instead of a thing around you.”

Annie stared at him with parted lips, her eyes filling with tears. “But I don’t have your magic anymore,” she whispered. “I don’t want to hurt people...”

“You won’t,” Lorenzo said firmly. “I won’t let that happen.”

“But...” Annie swallowed, and with the tears falling from her lashes looked at Vincent again, and the magic he had drawn into the air, before looking up at Lorenzo again. “Your magic isn’t there anymore...”

“That’s true,” Vincent said gently, and the layer of gold now vanished. Turquoise shoots grew randomly into all directions while sprouting leaves in different sizes. “And this is why it’s not so easy for you to get your Papá´s magic back. That seed of white magic, it’s still there, you know? But your magic is growing all around it, and it’s going to be very difficult to find it.”

Annie sniffed as she looked at the randomly growing magic, and as if reacting to the display, a few wisps of her own magic rose from her fingers. 

“But here’s the thing,” Vincent now said, and with a move of his fingers, cut the magic picture in front of him in half. There was lots of turquoise, and right at the centre, a little white orb. “When Baal tore your Papá’s magic out, that hurt, right?”

Her eyes flowing over, Annie nodded. “It hurt,” she whispered. “I didn’t want her to do that.”

“No doubt you didn’t want that,” Vincent replied with a nod. “And neither did your Papá want that. It hurt him too, you know?”

Annie’s head flew up and she stared at Lorenzo with huge eyes and trembling lips. Lorenzo smiled calmly down at her and ran his fingers through her hair. “It’s okay again,” he said.

“It’s not really, though,” Vincent said, meeting his eyes. “We have to be honest here.”

Lorenzo took a deep breath and swallowed before he was able to look at Annie again. “He’s right. It still feels like... I just can feel the place where your magic should be, and that place still hurts. But not badly, just like a bruise, like when you stubbed your toe.”

Annie nodded, but another tear ran down her cheek. Lorenzo leaned closer and touched her forehead with his. 

“It’s okay, angelita.” A few wisps of golden magic caressed her hair together with his fingers. “Don’t worry about me, it’s fine.”

“So you see, Princess,” Vincent went on, and both Annie and Lorenzo looked at him again, “I think when Baal ripped your Papá’s magic away, a few bits were torn off and left behind.” Beneath the layer of turquoise, a few small dots of gold appeared on the surface of the white orb, bits of it growing out of the orb and vanishing in the turquoise thicket. “And if he now goes looking for them, through all your magic, and can find them, he could use them to... to shield your magic again. You see, his magic has to be connected to that seed to control it; he can’t just wrap it around your magic like he can wrap you in a blanket.”

A thread of gold started to make its way through the thicket of turquoise towards the core, and upon reaching it, took root in white orb. Several other golden threads now grew out of the turquoise, and formed into a layer around the vines and flowers. 

“It won’t be as easy as back then when you only had your seed of magic, and I can’t even promise you it will work. But we could try, and see if it works. And if it doesn’t, we think of something else.”

Annie took a few shallow breaths, staring at the white orb and the golden sparks. Then she sucked at her lower lip, and chewed on it for a moment. Both Vincent and Lorenzo waited patiently for her to make a decision, because in this case it would be pointless and try to force it. 

“Will it hurt?” she finally asked in a tiny whisper.

Vincent calmly met her eyes. “I don’t know,” he said simply. “I have never tried this before, and neither has your Papá.”

“But I want his magic back,” Annie whispered, tears glistening in her eyes. “I want Papá’s magic back.”

“Should we try it then?” Vincent asked gently. “Even if it might hurt?”

Staring at the magic picture, Annie began to tremble, and pressed herself closer into Lorenzo’s embrace. But then she nodded. 

Vincent took a deep breath. “Okay. Just... it’s very important that you don’t resist it. You have to let your Papá do this, even if it hurts. But if it hurts too much, or if you can’t do this after all, then we’ll stop. Okay?”

Annie nodded, a move so faint it was hardly there. “I’m scared,” she whispered.

“It’s okay to be scared,” Vincent replied gently. “But you’re brave, and strong. And you know, brave doesn’t mean you’re not scared. Brave means you’re scared but do it anyway because you have to. But we do not want you to hurt too much, so we can stop this any time you need to, okay?”

Nodding again, Annie swallowed. 

“But hey, you know what your Papá’s magic feels like, right?” Vincent asked with an encouraging smile. “It’s nothing to be scared of, right?”

Annie shook her head. “It smells of coffee and oranges,” she said, still in a whisper, but not as scared anymore. 

“It does what?” Vincent still smiled, but mildly confused now, and exchanged a look with Lorenzo who could only shake his head.

“It smells of coffee and oranges,” Annie said again. 

“Coffee and oranges?” Vincent tilted his head. “I didn’t know magic could smell.”

“Uncle Magnusens magic smells kind of like Jelly Beans.” Annie snuggled closer to Lorenzo, but was beginning to relax a bit.

“Jelly Beans?” Vincent breathed out a small chuckle. “Like, sweet and fruity?”

All eyes were suddenly on Magnus, who snapped his fingers and looked at the blue light around his hand before he brought up his palm to sniff it. Then he shrugged, and the magic vanished again. 

“You can smell magic?” Vincent asked, his smile widening, a small spark in his eyes. “That is so cool! I never met anyone who could smell magic.” Then he looked around. “What does Catarina’s magic smell like?”

Annie hesitated for a moment. “Like... like the tree behind the house, with the long needles, when it’s warm outside...”

“A pine tree?” Vincent looked at Lorenzo who nodded. “A pine tree in summer.” He smiled again. “Hey, what does my magic smell like?”

He let a small cloud of his blue-grey magic drift into her direction. Annie sniffed it a few times before she looked at him. 

“Kind of... like...” She bit her lower lip. “Like when you blow out a candle. And a bit like... like the green needle herb Papá uses in the kitchen sometimes.”

“Rosemary?” Lorenzo asked, fascinated despite his worries, and Annie nodded.

“Cool,” Vincent said with a bright smile, and dispelled his magic again. “Candle smoke and rosemary. And here I was afraid it would smell of fish or something.”

A tiny smile twitched Annie’s lips but, then she looked at the magic picture again. 

“Right.” Vincent moved a little closer to the two. “Are you ready?”

Annie swallowed and bit her lower lip, but then she nodded. “I want Papá’s magic back,” she whispered and closed her eyes, dropping her head against Lorenzo’s chest. 

“Good.” Vincent’s voice was low and gentle again, calm and soothing. “Then your Papá will try and find his magic again that’s hopefully still there somewhere. And again, it’s okay to be scared, but it’s only your Papá’s magic, okay? And that’s a good magic. Just think of coffee and oranges.”

“And if it hurts?” Annie didn’t open her eyes.

“Try and think of coffee and oranges,” Vincent said again, very softly. “Try and think of how it would feel having your Papá’s magic again. But if it hurts too much, we’ll stop.” He looked around, and his eyes fell on Andrew. “Hey, would it help if your Daddy holds your hand?”

Annie nodded, but otherwise, didn’t move. Now Andrew moved closer to Lorenzo’s side, put one arm around his shoulders, and reached around his front with the other to take Annie’s hand. Annie clamped her fingers around it. 

“Just hold on to me, Sweetie,” Andrew said softly. “Hold on as hard as you have to.”

Lorenzo now took a deep breath and looked up at Andrew, who smiled at him. 

“You can do this,” Andrew whispered and touched Lorenzo’s temple with his own. “We can do this. It’s going to be okay.”

Nodding slowly, Lorenzo lowered his head again and summoned his magic. He rested his palm on Annie’s solar plexus, and closed his eyes. 

A moment later, Annie twitched with a small gasp.

“Shh,” Lorenzo whispered softly. “It’s only me.”

“Hey, coffee and oranges, Pumpkin,” Andrew said softly. “Remember?”

The room around them was dead silent, as if there weren’t a group of Shadowhunters and several warlocks surrounding them. No one dared to breathe too hard. 

Lorenzo’s eyes were pinched shut, his forehead furrowed in concentration, and Annie was holding on to Andrew’s hand so hard his fingers were squashed together. Annie was trembling, but didn’t make a sound. She looked scared, but not as if she was in pain. Taking a deep breath, Lorenzo slightly increased the pressure of his palm. 

Annie gasped, her eyes flying open. 

“Shh,” Lorenzo whispered. “It’s okay. Don’t be scared.”

“Papá...” A shaky, tiny whisper. “Papá... please stop...”

“You’re doing so well, Princess,” Vincent said softly. “Don’t give up now.”

“Don’t be afraid,” Lorenzo whispered again. “Look at me, angelita.”

Annie was breathing hard and fast, but then she lifted her head. 

Small sparks of light rose from the spot under Lorenzo’s hand, dancing slowly around in the air between the two, like dust motes in shafts of sunlight. Most of them were white, but there were a few turquoise ones, and even the odd golden one here and there. 

Vincent exhaled softly, and looked away. 

All around the room the warlocks now averted their eyes, some of them even turned around. Magnus looked away and at the floor, and following his lead, the Shadowhunters stopped watching the two as well. They had no idea what was going on, but it was obvious that whatever was happening between Annie and Lorenzo was not meant for anyone else’s eyes.

The only one to not look away was Andrew, because he didn’t want to disturb the moment between the two with moving around. So he just closed his eyes, and kept holding on to Annie’s hand.

“Papá...?”

“It’s okay,” Lorenzo whispered. “You just have to trust me.”

Annie looked up, and into his eyes. Lorenzo met her eyes, locked eyes with her, and after a moment, she nodded without taking her eyes off his. A small, gentle smile was on Lorenzo’s lips now as his glamour slowly dissipated, and Annie’s lips twitched upward into a tiny smile as well.

Between them, the sparks still drifted about. But then the first one to vanish was one of the gold ones, and more of them vanished until they were all gone, followed by the white sparks. Lorenzo now looked at one of the few turquoise sparks that remained, and willed it to float towards Annie’s chest. 

“It’s yours,” he whispered. “Call it back. Claim it.”

Annie stared at the spark, bit her lower lip, and blinked a few times. Then the spark vanished. 

“Very good.” Lorenzo smiled at her. “Claim them all back.”

It took her a moment, but eventually all the turquoise sparks were gone as well. Both Lorenzo and Annie looked at the empty space between them before she lifted her face. 

“Do I have your magic back now?” Annie asked in a whisper.

“Try it,” Lorenzo replied gently, and removed his hand from her chest.

Annie let go of Andrew’s hand and lifted both of hers now, but just stared at them in trepidation with trembling fingers. She took a few shaky breaths and curled her hands into fists, but hesitated for another moment before she flicked them open again. 

Soft, golden light danced around her skin, and her face lit up in a smile so bright it brought tears to Lorenzo’s eyes. He blinked them away, smiling gently down at his daughter who looked up at him, the fear finally vanishing from her eyes.

“It’s your magic,” she said, and fell against him, clamping her arms around him. “I have your magic again.”

Lorenzo closed his arms around her and looked up at Andrew. Andrew smiled back at him, and moved around Lorenzo so he was kneeling before him, right next to Annie who lifted her head to look at him. 

“Hey, Pumpkin,” he said with a smile. “Feel better?”

Annie nodded, but her smile vanished again. “I don’t like my magic. It’s scary.”

“Hey, no.” Andrew shook his head. “It’s not scary. It’s beautiful. And... yeah, it has a bit of a temper every now and then. It’s difficult, maybe, though I wouldn’t know. But it’s definitely not scary.”

“There is nothing to be scared of,” Lorenzo added, and inclined his head to better look at her face. “I will help you, every step of the way. You will learn to control and use it. But both I and my magic will be here for you as long as you need us.”

Annie took a deep breath through her nose, her lips pressed tightly together. But then she nodded, and let herself sink against Lorenzo’s chest again. 

“Can I go home?” she whispered after a moment.

“We are home,” Andrew replied, and reached into his pocket for his stele. “We’re in the basement. The room with the heavy door where you weren’t allowed to go. Were I wasn’t allowed to go either, if that makes you feel better.” He activated his strength rune, and then his stamina rune, although that made him wince a little. “So, how about a strawberry bubble bath, and we can find you something to eat?”

“Is there banana bread?” Annie asked, but her hopeful smile died again when Andrew had to shake his head.

“No, Sweetie, I’m sorry. I have to make one. Or maybe Papá can conjure up a loaf, though he’s really low on magic right now. But we’ll find something, don’t you think?”

With that he held out his arms, and after a moment, Annie reached out to him and let herself be plucked out of Lorenzo’s arms. Andrew got up and adjusted her in his arms so she was resting comfortably against his chest. He took a deep breath, and after closing his eyes for a moment looked down at Lorenzo, who nodded with a tired smile.


	14. Chapter 14

Lorenzo now dropped his head again and took a few deep breaths. His glamour returned, even if it did so very hesitantly, and it flickered on and off a few times before it stayed in place. Then he pushed himself onto his knees, but as he was about to force his legs under him, a hand appeared in his view.

He looked up, into Vincent’s smiling face, and with a nod of thanks took the hand and let Vincent help him to his feet. Lorenzo looked around, at the warlocks spread across the room, and walked towards the centre of the pentagram to pick up the box.

“I don’t quite understand what happened either, but there’s plenty of the restoration potion. Help yourselves to however much you need. You have my deepest... and undying gratitude.” He slowly looked around, met eyes with every one of the warlocks. “All of you. I couldn’t have saved Annie without your help.”

With the open box he walked across the room. Greta was the first warlock he reached, and she took one of the vials with a nod.

“Here’s to the saffron jinn essence,” she said with a twitch of her eyebrows, which brought a wry little smile to Lorenzo’s lips. She took a sip, then handed the half-empty vial to the warlock next to her. “But you know we’re going to have to talk about… that.”

“That?” Lorenzo accepted the empty vial back.

“What she did.” Greta looked at Annie, and lowered her voice. “She just drained six warlocks of magic, without so much as snapping a finger. I know she didn’t do it on purpose, but if the has that ability then-”

“I am aware of the danger,” Lorenzo interrupted her calmly. “And we will talk about this. Just… give us a few days. Nothing is going to happen right now.”

Greta nodded and gave Lorenzo a small, tired smile. “It could also be it was all that demon in her head. By the way,” and she raised her voice again, “Vincent, how sure are we there’s nothing of Baal’s magic left in her mind?”

Lorenzo spun around and stared at Annie with parted lips. Andrew looked down at her, but Annie was half asleep in his arms and didn’t realise she was suddenly the centre of attention.

Vincent took a deep breath and walked to Andrew’s side, giving Annie a critical look. Then he summoned his magic, and gently, rested his thumb between her eyebrows, his middle finger on the centre of her forehead, and his index and ring finger on her temples. Lorenzo almost absentmindedly shoved the box with the vials at Greta and hurried across the room back to his daughter’s side.

“Hey,” Vincent whispered. “Open your mouth, Princess. Breathe deep and slow. There’s some nasty stuff left in there, we need to flush that out. Don’t worry, it’s not going to hurt.”

Annie tensed, and clutched a fold of Andrew’s shirt again, but she hesitantly opened her mouth.

Four dots of dark, blue light appeared around Vincent’s fingertips. A second later Annie gasped and gagged and heaved, and a puff of dark, oily smoke gushed out of her mouth. She shook her head with a wail of fear and disgust, making small droplets of grey saliva fly from her chin, but as soon as the smoke was dissipating the colour returned to her skin, and her hair lost the grey dullness, back to golden within a few heartbeats.

With a few flickering, pale wisps of magic around his fingers Lorenzo brushed her hair back, and used his sleeve to wipe the grey saliva off her chin and lips.

“Hey,” Andrew whispered into her hair, lowering his head. “Now she’s totally and completely gone, and you’re not grey at all anymore. Not even a little bit.”

Annie sniffed and looked at Lorenzo who smiled and tugged a strand of her hair down in front of her eyes. She stared at that for a moment, and then closed her eyes and melted back into Andrew’s arms. “I want to go home,” she whispered miserably.

“We’re on our way, Pumpkin,” Andrew whispered softly, and turned around to head for the door.

Lorenzo remained where he was, more or less in the centre of the room, within the by now somewhat smudged pentagram. He looked around and exhaled softly a few times before he swallowed and took a deep breath.

He was looking rather worse for wear at that point. Despite the ponytail his hair was a disheveled mess; his trousers were dirty and sported a few dark stains that looked like dried blood. There were a few blotches of dried blood on his collar, a part of the left side of his shirt was soaked through with tears and snot, and his right sleeve had several streaks of grey saliva on it.

“I... I don’t know what to say,” he began in a rough, tired voice, looking at Magnus before he let his eyes wander from one Shadowhunter to the next, ending with Simon. “I simply don’t know how to thank you. I couldn’t have saved Annie without your help either, and that you...” He shook his head, his eyes falling shut. “That you came for me...” Looking up again, he shook his head again. “I... thank you,” he then ended with a helpless shrug.

“Did you really expect we’d let you rot in there?” Magnus asked, walking up to him. “Really?”

“I have to admit, the only thing I expected... the only thing I could think of was that I was about to meet a very unpleasant death.” Lorenzo shrugged with a wry, tired smile. “But... no, I didn’t expect a rescue mission. Certainly not that fast.”

“Thanks to the amplifier,” Magnus replied, “Vincent and I only needed a few minutes to open the rift again.”

“And... how much did you have?” Lorenzo asked hesitantly.

Magnus exchanged a quick glance with Vincent. “A bottle each,” he said, and quickly lifted his hand as Lorenzo opened his mouth, “and before you protest, we knew about the risk of possible side effects, or after effects. But it was the only way to get you out of there in time.”

“You...” Lorenzo swallowed and stared at Magnus for a moment with parted lips. “You took that risk... for me?”

Magnus rested one hand on Lorenzo’s shoulder. “Lorenzo,” he said calmly and firmly. “Remember what we talked about, back then?”

“Back then?” Lorenzo tilted his head with a questioning frown.

_“Did you not eat down in Edom?”_

_“What can I do for you, Lorenzo?”_

_“I just came by to pick up a few of my things”._

_“Help yourself.”_

_“Ah, there it is. This beauty belongs in my chateau in Majorca. And I believe this sterling drink stirrer is mine as well.”_

_“Lorenzo, I want to thank you. For risking your life to help save mine.”_

_“I was just doing my part as a member of the warlock community. That is all.”_

_“Alec told me how helpful and supportive you were. He means a lot to me.”_

_“Actually, the trip to Edom turned out to be something of an inspiration. You know, I never had a family. Never thought one was even possible. But the way your loved ones rallied for you, for each other, showed me a family doesn't need to be something that you're born into. Families can be made. One day, I hope to be as lucky as you in finding one of my own. Take care, Magnus.”_

_“Lorenzo. I'd like you to have this.”_

“And then you gave me the invitation,” Lorenzo said, a wistful smile on his face. “How could I forget that day?”

He looked past Magnus at Andrew who was standing at the other end of the room, close to the door. Feeling Lorenzo’s eyes on him he looked up, and the two exchanged a small but ridiculously lovesick smile.

“So, you see,” Magnus went on, and Lorenzo looked at him again, “it seems like you’re stuck with this lot now. Just as I am.”

“Stuck?” Lorenzo huffed out a chuckle while shaking his head. “Magnus, I have to admit, I wouldn’t have expected for any sort of friendship to ever develop between us... but they came along because of you.”

“Well.” Alec crossed his arms. “True. Magnus isn’t going anywhere without me, I’m not going anywhere without Jace.” He looked around. “But we’re all in this together.”

Lorenzo lifted both eyebrows and looked at him, at Jace, and then at Isabelle who smiled brightly.

“There’s doing something because you have to, because it’s the right thing, the thing you should be doing,” she said. “And then there’s the thing you just do, because there’s no question if you’re doing it or not.”

“That’s the thing with families,” Clary went on with a small grin. “It’s all of us or none of us.”

“Yeah.” Simon nodded wisely. “You don’t get to choose your family. You either have one, or you don’t have one.”

“Or, you can make one,” Magnus now said, the conversation having gone full circle now. “Although I by the way you look right now I’d say that you didn’t even notice until now, when you really needed one. Things like these usually don’t happen overnight.”

“I...” Lorenzo swallowed and shook his head, and when he looked up, his eyes were glistening again. “I had not. And I...” Shaking his head again he closed his eyes, and needed a few deep breaths before he could speak again. “I could not be any prouder... or happier, having found a family like you.”

“You say that now,” Simon said with a crooked grin.

“Way to ruin the moment, Simon,” Jace muttered and rolled his eyes while crossing his arms.

“Right!” Greta clapped her hands once. “Since we’re done being sentimental, can we unseal the door and go home? I really want to crack open a cold one and put my feet up.”

Lorenzo emptied the rest of the restoration potion he still had in his pocket, but it was still exhausting for him to unseal the heavy door. The warlocks filed out first, one by one, and Andrew was the next one to head for the stairs.

Magnus closed his hands around Lorenzo’s upper arms before he stepped back, and Alec clapped his shoulders as he passed him by. Jace gave Lorenzo a smile and a nod, Clary took one of his hands between her for a moment, and Isabelle simply pulled him close to air-kiss both his cheeks.

“Bienvenido a la familia, Lorenzo,” she said, and leaned back with a smile. “Like Magnus said, you’re stuck with us now.”

“Thank you,” Lorenzo replied with a warm smile, and Isabelle let go of his shoulders again to step back. “There are far worse places to be stuck in, believe me.”

Magnus was the last one to leave the room, and he cast a quick wave of magic through the room to erase the last remnants of the pentagram after picking up the scattered remains of Lorenzo’s notes. The heavy door fell shut behind him, and after locking it, he handed Lorenzo the keys as he caught up with him on the stairs.

Lorenzo accepted the key with a grateful nod, and once he had closed the door to the stairway behind him, he had another look around. Most of the warlocks had portalled out already, but Vincent and Catarina were still there, both of them now checking Annie again who was curled up in Andrew’s arms. Madzie and Maryse were standing next to him, Maryse caressing Annie’s hair with a tearful smile, and at the other end of the room Luke was holding a low conversation with Maia, who was surrounded by large paper bags.

“Lucien.” Lorenzo walked across the room. “Miss Roberts. What a pleasant surprise.”

“It’s Maia, you’re not my lawyer,” Maia replied with a smile. “And when I heard what was going on, I thought maybe you guys need some food, so Bat and I packed a few...”

Luke snorted and stroked a hand down his chin, mumbling something into his palm.

“Hey, you no longer get to say that!” Maia thrust out a finger at him, a playful glare in her eyes. “Besides, these aren’t leftovers, so they’re literally no doggie bags at all.”

Then she turned to Lorenzo, and her smile vanished as she gave him a once-over. “Jesus Christ, Lorenzo, you look as if a Shax demon ate you and shat you out again.” She wrinkled her nose. “And you smell like it, too.”

“Which is an apt description of how I am feeling right now,” Lorenzo replied drily. Then he inclined his head. “I am grateful for your consideration and generosity. If you would be so kind as to talk to Maryse regarding dinnerware...” He looked down at himself. “I desperately need to change.”

“Hose yourself down while you’re at it,” Maia said and picked up two bags to carry them into the kitchen.

Lorenzo sighed, and after exchanging a nod with Andrew, headed upstairs for a desperately needed shower and change of clothes. Normally he would have snapped his fingers to clean himself, but after some internal debate about what was more exhausting now, taking a shower or using magic, he opted for the actual shower but kept it short.

When he joined the others downstairs again, they were all gathered around the large table in the dining room that was covered with plates and cutlery, and mountains of paper napkins and take-away boxes. Annie was sitting on Andrew’s lap, her feet dangling down, and was stuffing a sausage roll into her face with single-minded determination. And as much as Lorenzo insisted on proper table manners under normal circumstances, he couldn’t imagine Annie had eaten well, if anything, during her time in Baal’s cold, grey realm.

So he just sat down in the last empty chair, next to her and Andrew, and picked a few crumbs of Andrew’s trouser leg that he dropped into the nearest empty box. Annie stopped chewing and looked embarrassed, but Lorenzo just shook his head with a smile and patted her thigh. She smiled back, and continued her ferocious assault on the sausage roll.

“Hungry, hmm?” Lorenzo asked her gently.

Cheeks too full to speak, Annie nodded enthusiastically.

“It’s her third one,” Andrew supplied. “And she had two chocolate chip cookies as starters.”

“That hungry.” Lorenzo chuckled under his breath. “Where on earth do you put all that?”

Annie pointed at her belly.

“Of course.” Lorenzo shook his head with a small grin. “Silly old me.”

After they had made short work of the mountain of food Maia had brought, Lorenzo couldn’t even begin to think about cleaning up when a flurry of activity around the table took matters out of his hands. With so many helping hands everything was tidied up, cleaned, and put away in no time, even without the use of any magic.

Lorenzo made a point of thanking everyone once again, one by one, and after the last portal vanished, he was about to keel over. Yet as he turned around, he almost ran into Vincent who had not yet portalled home.

“What can I do for you?” Lorenzo was, for once, not annoyed about the fact he had to almost drop his head back to look at Vincent’s face when he was that close to the tall man.

“Just asking,” Vincent said in a low voice, and looked up the stairs. Seeing that Andrew and Annie were out of sight and earshot, he continued, “you are going to remove all that, aren’t you?”

Lorenzo didn’t have to ask. “Of course. But today I’m just...”

“Too drained, I get it.” Vincent nodded, and almost broke Lorenzo’s shoulder blade with a friendly pat. “But,” he went on, and became serious again, “I wanted to ask you to let me do it. Professional distance. Let me be the one to meddle around in her mind. Me and my magic, that is. Then yours won’t have any negative connotations.”

“Thank you,” Lorenzo said slowly. “I’d appreciate that a lot.”

“Then give me a call, or send a message.” Vincent snapped his fingers to open a portal. “But don’t wait for too long. The fresher the memories are, the easier they are to remove.”

“Give us a good night’s sleep, hopefully.” Lorenzo looked up the stairs too, not giving in to the illusion the night would be nightmare free. “I’ll contact you tomorrow.”

“Sleep well.” Vincent tipped the brim of an imaginary hat, and stepped into the portal.

By the time Lorenzo had reached the upstairs bathroom, he could already smell the artificial strawberry flavour of Annie’s favourite bubble bath. And remembering that only a couple of days ago he had held that very bottle in his hand, vision too blurry to read the label while wondering if she would ever use it again, he suddenly found his dislike for that particular scent lessen considerably.

By the sound of it, several pirate ships were engaged in a fight with ferocious sea monsters, and after knocking and being completely ignored, Lorenzo cautiously entered the battlefield. Both Annie and Andrew looked up, caught like spooked cats, both sporting the same, slightly embarrassed grin. Lorenzo shook his head with a fond smile. How the two could be – and look – so alike without any biological relation was beyond him.

“Having fun?”

Annie was buried up to her nose in mountains of pink foam, and she now sat up and brandished an empty shampoo bottle. “I’m the pirates!”

“And I’m the sea monster!” Andrew had a sponge in each hand – Lorenzo’s largest, hand-plucked Egyptian reef sponges that had cost a fortune – and tried to wipe the pink foam off Annie’s face while making horrible gargling and growling sounds.

Suddenly Andrew stopped, and looked up at him with horror dawning on his face. “Oh sh... those are the Egyptian sponges... right?”

But what worth is there in even the most exotic and expensive thing, when you didn’t use it for that very reason? True, those sponges would now forever smell of artificial strawberry flavour, but Lorenzo couldn’t care less about the value of the sponges upon hearing Annie laugh like that.

“Please,” he said, and walked towards the bathtub, navigating around a few puddles of various sizes. “What is more important, an expensive sponge or my daughter’s laughter?”

“Oh.” Andrew smiled, somewhat embarrassed, but then his face lit up. “Well, in that case, you can join us!”

And without preamble, he threw the sponge at Lorenzo. It landed on his chest with a wet splat and Lorenzo caught it in sheer reflex, and Annie almost drowned in the bathtub from laughter. Andrew would have drowned too, probably, to judge by the way he was laughing.

“You should’ve seen your face,” he giggled.

Lorenzo took a deep breath through his nose, and looked at the sponge. And at Annie. And at Andrew.

Andrew and Annie stopped laughing, and exchanged a look of ‘Uh-oh, we’re toast now’ before smiling nervously up at him.

Lorenzo relished the moment for a second or two. “It is on,” he said then, and not even Andrew’s Shadowhunter reflexes could save him from being hit squarely in the face with the wet sponge.

* * *

Lorenzo was running only on willpower alone by the time he fell into bed, wearing the softest pyjamas he owned, and still smelling slightly of artificial strawberry flavour. Andrew, who was running on his stamina rune – which was obvious by the glassy-eyed, tired look on his face – had parked Annie in their bed to go and fetch her pillow and blanket, as her sleeping alone in her bed was out of the question tonight.

Clutching her elephant she immediately crawled under Lorenzos’s blanket and snuggled against him, slipping her thumb into her mouth. Lorenzo hadn’t seen her do that in a while but he didn’t comment on it, he just closed his eyes and listened to her breathing and the tiny sounds of her sucking her thumb.

By the time Andrew came back into the bedroom with Annie’s blanket under one arm, and her pillow in the other hand, Annie was already asleep. Andrew carefully positioned her pillow between his and Lorenzo’s, did the same with her blanket, but Lorenzo just opened his eyes with a tired smile and shook his head when Andrew asked, in a whisper, if he should relocate her.

Returning that smile Andrew leaned over him and kissed Lorenzo’s forehead before he fell into his own pillow. He reached out and took Lorenzo’s hand, and laced their fingers together.

For a moment they both just watched their sleeping daughter’s face and listened to her peaceful breathing, before Andrew switched off the light.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> That was... quite the ride. I didn’t plan for this to be that long, but the plot ran away from me... There’s a little epilogue coming up, and then we’re done. Thanks for sticking with me until here, I hope you enjoyed it!

That night Annie woke up from a nightmare, and while it was only once, it wasn’t because of what she had been through, but what she had seen Baal do to her father, or more specifically, Andrew. Having been forced to watch her try and shatter him with her magic it now haunted her sleep. She woke up screaming, and not only was she shivering and crying, she had even wet herself in her terror. 

Luckily it was something Lorenzo could quickly undo with a snap of his fingers, before she could become aware of it and feel even worse. He then picked her up and pushed her at Andrew who immediately pulled her close and curled protectively around her. 

“Shh, it’s okay,” he whispered into her hair. “I’m here, Pumpkin, and I’m okay. Baal didn’t hurt me bad, and Papá and Magnus fixed everything.”

It took her a long time to calm down, and eventually Lorenzo used a small amount of magic to settle her mind so she could fall asleep again. Lorenzo almost passed out as well immediately after her, but Andrew remained awake for a long time. And despite knowing that the warlocks would erase those horrible memories from her mind as soon as possible, he still wanted to go back and kill Baal again, much slower, for what she had done to his little princess. It was in the small hours of the night that he finally found rest as well. 

Annie woke him up shortly after sunrise because she was hungry, and with a jaw-cracking yawn Andrew slipped out of bed, pressing his finger to his lips as soon as he could close his mouth again. Annie nodded, and they managed to leave the bedroom without waking Lorenzo, who was still dead to the world. 

Lorenzo felt, if not completely restored, a lot better when he dragged himself out of bed close to noon, and he found Annie and Andrew in a blanket fort in the living room downstairs, watching cartoons with a huge bowl of popcorn between them. Andrew gave him a reassuring smile, and hearing Annie giggle while watching the coyote fall from a cliff for the hundredth time – how that joke could still make anyone laugh after so many times was anyone’s guess – he left them to it in the knowledge that Annie was okay for now. He then went to equip himself with coffee and breakfast, and once he was in his third cup, he gave Vincent a call. He showed up about half an hour later, and the two retreated into Lorenzo’s study to plan the best course of action. 

“We should erase everything up until the moment she went to bed before her birthday,” Vincent said after a moment’s thought. “If I do it tonight, then she will wake up tomorrow morning thinking it’s her birthday, and there will be no holes left in her mind or her memories.”

“I want everything regarding Baal gone as well,” Lorenzo replied, and closed his eyes for a moment. “And while I really could do without certain moments of the last few days I know how difficult it is to remove such specific incidents without side effects, so I shall have to deal with it.”

“Not to play shrink...” Vincent cleared his throat. “I mean, I am a shrink, but while I’m a child psychologist, I think I could help you as well. You can talk to me any time if you need it.”

Lorenzo looked at him, and Vincent smiled mildly back. How he could go back and forth between behaving like an annoying teenager and being a wise, gentle caretaker was completely beyond Lorenzo’s mental capabilities right now to fathom, but he realised that ne might need the offered help. 

“It’s much appreciated, Vincent.” Lorenzo said with a slightly tired smile. “I might take you up on that. Last night I was too exhausted to dream, I think.”

“We got some time to kill until her bedtime, don’t we?” Vincent leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs. “If you feel up for it, we can talk about it now.”

Lorenzo hesitated for a long moment, and stared out of the window. 

“Let me get more coffee,” he said then, and Vincent nodded while holding out his own cup with a smile.

* * *

At least Annie wasn’t afraid of Vincent, or his magic, so when her fathers told her that Vincent had to check something in her head, she just snuggled against Andrew whose lap she was sitting on, and closed her eyes as Vincent touched her forehead. 

He immediately put her to sleep once he had pulled all the memories out, and he looked at the magic hovering in his hand. 

“Should we keep this?” He asked, looking up at Lorenzo. “Once day she will learn what happened to her. Does she need to know then?”

“I can’t imagine she’d want anything to do with those memories,” Andrew replied. “But then, Baal is her demonic sire... so maybe she’ll want to know why she’s no longer there.” He looked back and forth between the warlocks. “I don’t know.”

“Let me conserve them,” Lorenzo said, looking at the magic that held Annie’s memories. “Then she can make her own decision once she is old enough to deal with them.”

Vincent agreed, and followed Lorenzo towards his study, while Andrew tucked Annie in for the night. 

As soon as the Andrew and Lorenzo had settled down in bed, Andrew scooted closer and turned onto his side, resting one hand on Lorenzo’s chest. Lorenzo turned his head to look at him, and lifted both eyebrows when he saw Andrew’s frown.

“Nothing, I just...” Andrew sighed. “You seemed kind of... distant, today. I mean, I know you don’t usually watch cartoons with us, but you were hidden away somewhere for most of the afternoon... I’m sorry.” He cleared his throat. “That’s what it felt like, kind of. I’m sure you had important stuff to discuss with Vincent.”

“I had,” Lorenzo said and closed his eyes. “He offered to talk about what... what happened to me, in Baal’s realm.” 

He stared at the ceiling in silence. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever been that close to death,” he whispered after a moment.

Andrew moved a little closer, and Lorenzo leaned his head against Andrew’s chest. 

“What did she do to you?” Andrew’s voice was low, and trembling ever so slightly.

“She...” Lorenzo took a deep breath. “Obviously she threatened me with a gruesome death, but she also told me that she wouldn’t let me die. Bring me to the brink of death, and bring me back, and since I’m immortal, she could have done so for centuries.”

Andrew had no idea what to say and just swallowed drily. 

“And to... to start with, she impaled me on one of her claws, jabbing it through my lower jaw and out of my mouth like a meat hook.” Lorenzo’s voice was hardly audible, a hoarse whisper, and he shuddered. “And I don’t think I’ve ever been so close to wetting myself either in that moment.”

After a moment of silence, Andrew reached out and pulled him close, against his chest, slinging both arms around him. 

“And then I just had barely enough magic to prevent you from having every bone in your body shattered by her,” Lorenzo went on in a trembling voice. “And having to watch how she-”

“Hey, it’s okay,” Andrew said softly and tucked Lorenzo’s head under his chin. “I know that sounds a little callous but... I’m actually okay. I guess as a Shadowhunter you’re more or less used to near-death experiences... and to be honest, I don’t know if that’s really a good thing.”

They both were silent for a moment, and Lorenzo’s voice was darkened by shame when he spoke again.

“I don’t think I can go through this without nightmares,” he whispered into the crook of Andrew’s neck.

“You know I won’t hold that against you, right?” Andrew’s voice held a trace of admonishment. “You’re not really thinking I’d be mad about that?”

“I know you won’t,” Lorenzo muttered, and relaxed into Andrew’s embrace. 

“And the point is...” Andrew said after a moment’s thought. “I think, the thing is, that it didn’t just happen to you because of being stupid or having shitty luck. You did it for Annie. There was a point to all that. You jumped into the rift to keep her safe, and I did it for the same reason. And I know that we both would do it again without hesitation if we had to.”

Lorenzo was silent for a long time before he replied, his voice still low but no longer trembling. “You’re right,” he said softly. “And Vincent said something similar. And he also said that...” He huffed out a small, hardly audible yet still amused chuckle. “He said that no warlock child could ever wish for better parents.”

“Did he,” Andrew said smugly, smiling into Lorenzo’s hair. “Good to know.”

“Yes, and he also said we should consider offering the same luck to another.”

“Another warlock child?” Andrew chuckled softly. “Really?”

“I ask you to forget about that notion,” Lorenzo replied slowly. “I’ve got all my hands quite full with Annie and her capricious magic.”

“Oh, I know.” Andrew nuzzled Lorenzo’s temple. “But the thought was kind of nice for a moment.”

Lorenzo didn’t reply, and just leaned against Andrew again with a deep, heartfelt sigh of exhaustion. Andrew pulled him closer and curled around him, and let Lorenzo fall asleep in his arms before he closed his own eyes.

* * *

Having set an alarm very early the next morning, Andrew and Lorenzo used the time before breakfast for the last preparations. Andrew had made some phone calls the evening before, and now Lorenzo got things together they needed to get everything ready. So when Annie jumped out of bed two hours later, they could greet her with smiles of happy anticipation. The downstairs lounge, the living room, the hallway, and the kitchen were decorated were with streamers and balloons. 

She launched herself at Andrew with a shriek of joy, and Andrew caught her mid-leap to spin her around. “Happy birthday, Pumpkin!” He kissed her cheek. “I can’t believe you’re five years old!”

“Daddy!!” Annie slapped his shoulder with the elephant. “I am seven years old! Not five!”

“Oh my god I am so sorry!” Andrew looked stricken. “Stupid me! You’re just growing too fast!”

“You’re silly,” Annie replied with a giggle. 

Andrew grinned brightly at her and smacked his lips in a big air kiss before all but throwing her at Lorenzo. She squealed again and dropped her elephant mid-air, then threw her arms around Lorenzo’s neck with bright, pealing laughter.

“Felicidades en tu día, angelita,” Lorenzo said and smiled at her as well when she leaned back to look at him. “Look at you becoming a young lady.”

“Can I use my magic now?” she asked, eyes bright. 

Lorenzo managed to keep his face under control and his smile in place. “We will practise a lot more often, and a lot harder. After all, you’re seven years old, so you’ll get better much faster now.”

She gave him another bright happy smile, and then looked at Andrew. “Can I have pancakes for breakfast?”

Andrew stepped aside with a smug smile, and Annie squealed again upon seeing the bowl with the batter, and the skillet on the cooker. 

“Everything for our birthday girl,” Andrew said, and grabbed the apron from the hook next to the door.

* * *

Magnus and Alec portalled in mid-morning, and while the two warlocks prepared a brunch for the guests, the two Shadowhunters took Annie outside in the garden to make use of the mild spring sunshine. They were tossing and spinning her around, and her laughter and shrieks of joy could be heard inside, making the two warlocks constantly smile.

Luke and Maryse arrived together with Catarina and Madzie, and Vincent had met up with the other Shadowhunters and Simon in the Institute to portal them to the mansion. Lorenzo now handed out coffee and tea, and everyone helped themselves to a few bites to eat while Annie hopped around them like a cross between a puppy and a bouncy ball. 

Her presents had accumulated on the coffee table in front of the sofa in the downstairs lounge, and of course she was close to exploding with excitement and curiosity by the time Andrew announced loudly, after everyone had had coffee, that it was unwrapping time. 

To avoid a total feeding frenzy Andrew handed her one gift after the other, keeping the pace as slow as possible so she could appreciate her presents one by one before unwrapping the next. 

There was a set of My Little Pony bed sheets from Magnus and Alec, a new colouring book and two fairy tale books from Maryse, and games and books and more My Little Pony things like pyjamas and a T-shirt, and finally a warrior princess set, pink and silver armour, shield, sword, crown, and a cape with hearts and swords, from Andrew. 

After sorting through her presents and deciding which book would be bedtime story tonight, she realised that something, or someone, was still missing. She looked up, and at Lorenzo, and sucked at her lower lip while staring at him with big eyes.

“You don’t honestly think I’d have forgotten you, do you?”

Annie shook her head. 

“Well then. Happy birthday, angelita.”

He snapped his fingers, and next to him, a gift appeared, wrapped in pink paper with a white ribbon. 

It was huge. And also completely lumpy, without any defined shape. 

Annie’s eyes grew big, and bigger, and she approached the present that was almost as big as herself with her mouth hanging open. She looked up at Lorenzo who smiled warmly down at her while crossing his hands behind his back. Then she looked back at her gift. 

Andrew crossed his arms and tilted his head, and Lorenzo smiled at him, quite obviously very pleased with himself. 

Now Annie had reached the gift, and began to tear the paper apart. She emitted an ear-battering shriek when she saw the first bit of white plush, and another, even louder one when long pink, purple, and turquoise hair appeared. 

The last shreds of paper landed on the carpet, and Annie stared at the unicorn with a strange mix of joy and disbelief in her eyes. Then she looked up at Lorenzo, who went down into a crouch next to her. 

“You bought it?” she whispered.

“I bought it,” Lorenzo replied gently. “You know, I was so very proud of you, and the way you fixed your mistake. But I never wanted to see you so heartbroken and sad.” 

Annie stared at him for another moment before she launched herself bodily at him, making him lose his balance so he fell flat onto his backside. He closed his arms around her as she threw her arms around his neck. 

“I love you, Papá,” she whispered into his collar. “So so so so so much!”

“I love you too, angelita.” Lorenzo dropped a kiss into her hair. 

Everyone watched the touching scene with smiles and moist eyes, until Magnus shook his head with a huff.

“You really have to go and one-up everyone all the time, don’t you?”

Lorenzo looked up and smirked at him. 

“Cake time!” Andrew yelled, to prevent any more possibilities for warlock bickering, and Annie smacked a huge, rather moist kiss onto Lorenzo’s cheek before jumping out of his lap. 

The cake was a large layered cake covered in white and pink icing – Magnus’ creation, having gone all-out with decorating the cake Andrew had baked – and seven large, pink candles. Annie blew them all out in one go, and made her wish with her eyes pinched shut. 

After having been the centre of attention for the whole day Annie was totally exhilarated and was difficult to manage during their evening routine. When she was finally in bed she was pale with tiredness, her cheeks glowing, but she was still chattering away about her presents and the awesome cake and how she mustn’t talk about her wish or it wouldn’t come true, which was obviously very difficult for her. 

Then she suddenly fell silent and stared at nothing for a moment, her smile dimming at first, then vanishing completely.

“I’m kinda sad my mommy can’t be here,” she said then, and looked at Lorenzo, then at Andrew. 

Lorenzo and Andrew exchanged a quick, harried look, before looking at Annie again. 

“I’m sorry, Pumpkin,” Andrew said softly. 

“I know.” Annie nodded slowly. “She’s in heaven with the angels now.”

“She absolutely is,” Andrew replied firmly. “And she’s going to be happy for you on your birthday.”

Annie nodded again, and the bright smile returned to her face. “And she’s going to be happy I got the best dads!”

“The best dads?” Andrew asked, a smile growing on his lips. “That sounds awesome.”

“Best dads ever!” Annie confirmed, nodding so enthusiastically her curls bobbed around her face. “The best dads ever, in the whole, whole world!”

“That makes us... very happy, angelita,” Lorenzo said and sat down next to her on the bed. “So very happy you feel that way.”

Annie sat up again to throw her arms around him for a fierce hug, and did the same with Andrew when he sat down as well. Then Andrew took the book she had chosen earlier that day, but Annie fell asleep after the first page. 

Her dads retreated silently, and before closing the door to her room, they remained there for a moment, watching their peacefully sleeping daughter. 

“I think we could have done a lot worse so far,” Lorenzo said softly after closing the door.

“I think we couldn’t have done any better,” Andrew replied cheerfully, and rested his forearms on Lorenzo’s shoulder, crossing his hands behind Lorenzo’s head. “I mean, she’s happy, she loves us, and she has everything she needs. How could that be any better?”

“You’re right,” Lorenzo replied after a moment with a sigh, but then he smiled. “Maybe we really are the best dads ever.”

“Oh, we absolutely are,” Andrew said, and leaned forward to capture Lorenzo’s lips in a gentle, affectionate kiss.


	16. Epilogue

After they had finished clearing out some demon infestations on the islands in Jamaica Bay, Andrew headed home to Lawrence straight away instead of going back to the Institute. It was already dawn after all, and going back to the Institute only to make his way back here was pointless. It was too early though for Lorenzo to be up already though to ask him for a portal, so Andrew said goodbye to his fellow Shadowhunters and set off east towards Lawrence on foot. He would be home at breakfast time, or maybe a bit later. 

The day was already warm, and by the time Andrew reached the manor he was carrying his leather jacket under one arm. Entering the premises he could hear Annie laugh behind the house, and he quickly dropped his jacket off in the hallway to see what they were up to. 

“Again! Papá! Again!” Annie was laughing brightly, and Andrew had to smile. “Chocolate this time!”

Andrew rounded the corner and could see Lorenzo and Annie, who were obviously practising magic. Lorenzo conjured up a butterfly made of golden light, and Annie ran after it, trying to shoot it with small bolts of her own magic. 

After Annie had finally succeeded, the butterfly burst into a shower of sparks, and she ran even faster now to catch as many of those sparks as she could on her tongue.

“Again!” She hopped up and down. “Another one, please!”

“Chocolate again?” Lorenzo asked. 

“White chocolate?” Annie asked with big eyes. “Oh, white chocolate, Papá!”

“White chocolate,” Lorenzo said with a smile, and conjured up another butterfly. 

Annie went after it with squeals of joy, but the butterfly wasn’t easy to catch. She had to make a real effort, and had to focus on her aim as well. She was doing a pretty good job, though. 

Still smiling, Andrew made his way across the lawn towards the large Japanese maple and the dark-haired baby boy who was lying in its shadow on his belly on a blanket. 

“Hey there, buddy!” Andrew had to laugh when the boy looked up at him with his adorable, two-toothed smile. “Where’s your sun hat?”

Said hat was lying right next to him, and removing it despite the elastic band under his chin must have cost him quite an effort. However, Luciano was nothing if not stubborn, and after smiling at Andrew he lowered his head again, and continued chewing on a fold of the quilt. 

“Hey, let’s see what the others are up to,” Andrew said and bent down to sweep the boy into his arms. “How are those horns coming along? Still bugging you?”

“Baahbmm,” the boy replied with a drooly smile, and patted Andrew’s chin with a moist hand. 

“That’s good to hear,” Andrew replied, and adjusted him on his lower arm. 

His mother had died giving birth to him, despite Catarina’s and Lorenzo’s efforts to save her. The young Latina, who had only spoken very broken English, had been admitted to the hospital after a suicide attempt, and Catarina could only assume that she had known that the child growing inside her wasn’t human. She seemed to have given up, and had not fought for her life when complications had arisen. 

With one thing leading to another the boy had ended up in Lorenzo’s arms, and Lorenzo hadn’t looked back. 

And now, together with teething, two small buds of horns had appeared on the boy’s temples, but they finally seemed to have stopped itching. He still enjoyed it however when Andrew gently massaged the buds with the pad of his thumb, so he was doing just that while approaching Lorenzo and Annie who was now hunting another butterfly, with strawberry ice cream flavour this time. 

Having reached them the boy now reached for Lorenzo with both arms, and Lorenzo picked him out of Andrew’s arms with a smile. 

“Hola, peque,” he said to the boy, who gave him his brightest smile. “Te veo feliz hoy.”

Annie crossed her arms with a pout, but her heart wasn’t really in it because her eyes on her little brother were shining. He had her wrapped around his little finger, even more so than his fathers. 

“But I wanted another butterfly!” Annie said. 

Andrew snapped his fingers. Then he stared at his hand. And snapped his fingers again. “Damn, it doesn’t work!”

“Daddy!” Annie said with a laugh. “You’re silly! You’re not a warlock!”

“Yeah, lame, I know,” Andrew replied with a heavy, dramatic sigh. 

“No, not lame at all!” Annie took one of his hands and hopped up and down. “You’re a Shadowhunter! You hunt demons!”

“Riiight,” Andrew said, bent a little forward and narrowed his eyes. “And you, little warlock, have demon blood, so careful that I don’t end up hunting you!” He thrust out both forefingers to tickle her, but she shrieked and bounced away. 

“Stand still, you demonic creature!” Andrew set off after her. 

They both vanished screeching and laughing around the corner. 

Lorenzo and Luciano looked at the corner where they had vanished. Then Lorenzo looked at his son. 

“Gleb,” Luciano said after a moment.

“My thoughts exactly,” Lorenzo replied drily. 

After a moment Luciano rubbed a hand across his eyes with an annoyed little hum. Then he slipped his thumb into his mouth. 

“Time for a nap?” Lorenzo asked.

The boy let his head drop against Lorenzo’s shoulder with a sigh, and smiling, Lorenzo carried him inside.


End file.
